Rui Torres de Oliveira

Outward foreign direct investment from emerging countries: theoretical extension and evidence from China

ABSTRACT Internationalization of emerging market firms (EMFs) is challenging pre-eminent theories. This article argues that no single existing theory adequately explains EMFs’ pattern for overseas investment. Using case studies and a multi-level approach, our research suggests that EMFs can be categorized into four different clusters based on different rationales, objectives, and motivations. Our findings suggest that existing theories can be useful for explaining the process of internationalization, but this holds only for specific clusters. This is of particular importance for EMFs since the presence and influence of the state on EMFs internationalization is both critical and diverse from developed economies.

The specificities of interviewing in China

Purpose n n n n nThe purpose of this paper is to guide future researchers and practitioners into the process of interviewing in the Chinese context. n n n n nDesign/methodology/approach n n n n nThe methodology used is an empirical critical reflection. n n n n nFindings n n n n nThe authors identified 11 major themes such as how to get an interview, antecedents of the interview, building rapport, complexity, language, interview settings, interview procedure, stages, probing and sensitive topics, selection of respondents and post-interview. n n n n nResearch limitations/implications n n n n nThe location of the interviews. n n n n nPractical implications n n n n nGuide foreigner researchers and managers on how to conduct interviews in China. n n n n nSocial implications n n n n nThe context matters, and only with a specific approach some can perform well and achieve the interview objectives. Doing so, the researcher or practitioner will not create situations that might be problematic for her/him and the interviewee. Based on the above, the authors’ research decreases potential social tensions that interview situations can create. n n n n nOriginality/value n n n n nTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other researcher has studied the specificities of interviewing in China, which brings originality and value to the authors’ research.

Institutions, Middleman, and Blockchains – Shuffle and Re-Start

Blockchains have the potential to disrupt many of the assumptions that we hold about market transactions. As a result of the new technology, different forces will come into play, providing both opportunities and challenges for market agents who will be forced to redesign their interactions with each other. While due to its novelty discussions have predominately centred on the technical aspects of the technology, it is important to recognise that the impending diffusion of Blockchains will challenge well-established theories, namely the Institutional Theory, Transaction Cost Theory, and Agency Theory. The aims of this paper are to understand how Blockchains will alter the forces involved in market transactions and fill gaps in comprehensive research within this area. Specifically, we aspire to uncover Blockchains’ potential implications to institutions and middlemen in an era where residual transaction costs are vast. The research highlights that Blockchains will dramatically reduce these transaction costs by extensively reducing the need for a middleman, creating significant issues for many service companies that act as transaction mediators. We also presented a discussion as to why we consider Blockchains semi-informal institutions and why Blockchains follow a very specific group of settings, that we coined as the Blockchain Market concept. We see this research in progress as a starting point for a new field of research that we term organisational democratisation, which embodies careful analysis of the effect on different institutional and organisational frameworks.