Elisa Giuliani

The Persistence of 'Capabilities' as a Central Issue in Industrialization Strategies: How They Relate to MNC Spillovers, Industrial Clusters and Knowledge Networks

Summary Until late 1960s there was little interest in understanding technological change in developing countries. Since then, enormous conceptual and empirical advancements have been achieved. Martin Bell is one of the pioneering scholars, who in the 1970s introduced a significant push in the understanding of innovation in developing countries. Ranging from his original studies on the importance of the accumulation of firm‐level capabilities to more recent work, the authors discuss how Martin influenced research in three new domains: (i) MNCs and technology learning in industrialising countries; (ii) knowledge networks and innovation in clusters and (iii) the development of knowledge networks and capabilities over time in industrialising countries.

BRIC companies seeking legitimacy through Corporate Social Responsibility

BRIC countries have generally gone through a process of liberalization and rapid economic growth that has allowed their major companies to acquire increasing weight in the global marketplace. However, they are still striving to achieve full legitimacy in the international arena. In a bid to close this legitimacy gap, BRIC firms are making efforts to align with the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) global norms of doing business, and recently have adopted a portfolio of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. In this paper we provide a deeper exploration into the factors that relate to BRIC firms’ adoption of different types of CSR initiatives — i.e. social policies (philanthropic projects favoring different stakeholders); publication of CSR reports; adoption of GRI standards; adherence to and financial support for the UN Global Compact. We carry out an empirical analysis on 60 large public BRIC companies, and find support for the idea that different kinds of CSR initiatives may be subject to different pressures and may serve different legitimization strategies.

The social irresponsibility of international business: A novel conceptualization

Abstract Purpose This chapter develops a novel conceptualization of corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) and identifies possible avenues for further research in the international business (IB) and related fields. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual chapter examining the existing definitions of CSI and proposing a classification of irresponsible behaviours using an international law approach. Findings The concept of CSI has been weakly conceptualized and measured so far. We improve this by distinguishing between unethical conduct bearing no direct impact on human rights and those behaviours that do entail a human rights impact. Next, we classify human rights abuses in two categories based on whether they entail the violation of a derogable or a non-derogable human right. Finally, we make a distinction between direct and indirect irresponsible actions. These distinctions are also illustrated empirically. Originality/value This chapter bridges the gap between IB, management and international law research on human rights or else defined irresponsible behaviours. Our novel conceptualization of CSI can help to better address unanswered questions about factors driving CSI in IB firms.

Do Global Value Chains Offer Developing Countries Learning and Innovation Opportunities

The role of emerging economies in the global economy via embeddedness in Global Value Chains (GVCs) is increasing, but their ability to become innovation leaders is less certain. The GVC approach stresses that the inter-firm linkages afforded by being part of a chain are crucial for transferring knowledge. However, their impact on the innovation performance of the developing country firms involved in these GVCs remains controversial and requires more research. The present study provides a systematic review of the literature on developing country GVCs to investigate the learning channels used by local firms, both within (firm level, collective level) and outside of these value chains (i.e. external sources of learning), and the extent to which this activity promotes innovation. We use cluster analysis to classify the cases identified in a literature review to propose a novel typology of local GVC innovators: (a) GVC-led Innovators that achieve high levels of innovation, relying mainly on sources of knowledge within the GVC; (b) Autonomous Innovators whose innovation activity is based on external sources of learning; (c) Marginal Innovators, which constitute the largest group and are characterized by low levels of innovativeness and some use of knowledge available within the GVCs, but scarce use of external sources.Le rôle des économies émergentes dans l’économie mondiale via l’intégration dans les chaînes de valeur mondiales (CVM) est croissant, mais leur capacité à devenir des leaders de l’innovation est moins certaine. La présente étude propose une revue systématique de la littérature sur les CVM des pays en développement afin d’étudier les canaux d’apprentissage utilisés par les entreprises locales au sein (au niveau des entreprises et au niveau collectif) et en dehors (les sources externes d’apprentissage par exemple) de ces chaînes de valeur. L’article étudie également la mesure dans laquelle cette activité favorise l’innovation. Nous proposons une nouvelle typologie des innovateurs locaux des CVM: (a) les innovateurs dirigés par les CVM qui atteignent des niveaux élevés d’innovation, en s’appuyant principalement sur les sources de connaissances au sein de la CVM; (b) les innovateurs autonomes dont l’activité d’innovation est basée sur des sources d’apprentissage externes; (c) Les innovateurs marginaux, qui constituent le groupe le plus important et se caractérisent par un faible niveau d’innovation et une certaine utilisation des connaissances disponibles au sein des CVM, mais une utilisation limitée des sources externes.

Innovation and Technological Catch-up in the Wine Industry: An Introduction

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the supremacy of ‘Old World’ countries (France and Italy) in the international wine market has been challenged by new players, such as Australia, Argentina, Chile and South Africa, which are recording stunning performances in terms both of export volume and value. This book demonstrates that such a spectacular example of catch-up goes beyond simply copying new technologies; it entails creative adaptation and innovation, and introduces a new growth trajectory in which consistent investments in research and science play a key role.

Bridging Researchers and the Openness of Wine Innovation Systems in Chile and South Africa

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the supremacy of ‘Old World’ countries (France and Italy) in the international wine market has been challenged by new players, such as Australia, Argentina, Chile and South Africa, which are recording stunning performances in terms both of export volume and value. This book demonstrates that such a spectacular example of catch-up goes beyond simply copying new technologies; it entails creative adaptation and innovation, and introduces a new growth trajectory in which consistent investments in research and science play a key role.

International Business and Corporate Wrongdoing: A Review and Research Agenda

It is not uncommon for multinational companies (MNCs) to be accused of corporate wrongdoing in connection with their international operations. However, there is very little international business (IB) research on MNCs’ wrongdoing , possibly because most IB scholars are interested in why MNCs exist, how they grow and how they are managed, and in the gains from international expansion for the MNCs or for other constituents in the home and host countries. In this chapter, we reverse this perspective and propose a novel agenda for further research in IB on the negative impacts generated by MNCs and their subsidiaries on the natural environment and on different constituents’ human rights.

Multilatinas’ legitimacy and social irresponsibility across institutional environments

Emerging country firms are often considered to suffer from lack of legitimacy due to poor reputation and institutional weaknesses in their home countries. Adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies is seen as a way to close this gap; however, legitimacy stems also from less social irresponsibility. This paper uses evidence from a sample of large Brazilian and Mexican public firms (Multilatinas) to investigate the relationship between their internationalization and their corporate social irresponsibility (CSIR), and to analyze how CSR moderates this relationship. We find that Multilatinas that adopt CSR policies - in the form of either social policies or CSR reporting, exhibit lower involvement in CSIR events, the more their investments are oriented towards countries characterized by strong speech and press freedoms. We discuss these results in light of neo-institutional theory and provide some implications for Multilatinas’ internationalization strategies.

CSR adoption and Involvement in Jus Cogens vs. No-Jus Cogens Human Rights abuses.

Management research on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) focuses almost exclusively on the impact of CSR on profitability or corporate value. A largely neglected question is whether CSR impacts positively on society. We address this gap in the literature by exploring the relationship between CSR adoption (as reflected by corporate declarations to adopt CSR policies) and corporate involvement in alleged human rights abuses. Using information on 140 large advanced country corporations, we find that there is a relationship between CSR and alleged human rights abuses, but that the nature of this relationship varies according to the type of abuse: firms that declare to be CSR-adopters appear less likely to be involved than non-adopters in the worst of the abuses (i.e. jus cogens abuses), but more likely than non-adopters to be involved in other types of “less serious” abuse (i.e. no–jus cogens abuses). Also, the adoption of CSR does not reduce corporate involvement in human rights abuses over time, display...