Speed of multinational expansion: integrated analysis of antecedents and outcomes

Abstract

Thematically, this doctoral thesis concentrates on the multi-dimensional phenomenon of speed of multinational expansion of firms. The empirical endeavours focus on identifying its determinants and interpreting its outcomes, as reflected in the corporate performance of multinational enterprises (MNEs). More importantly, the boundary conditions of both of these relationships have been tested by considering firm-level moderating effects. All of the findings have been interpreted through a combination of established theoretical perspectives for explaining activities of multinational enterprises: the internalisation theory, the resource based view and the organisational learning perspective. The discourse in this thesis is organised around three research questions and fifteen testable hypotheses designed to address them. Predictions presented in the hypotheses are assessed using two types of statistical models on an original panel data collected for a heterogeneous sample of UK multinationals. The empirical outputs from this study point to conclusions that intangible assets, in conjunction with context-specific and mode-specific international experience support each of the three measured facets of MNEs’ multinational speed, both individually and jointly. The same set of determining factors positively moderate the direct effects of multinational expansion speed on corporate performance. Further evidence suggests that the direct association between the core constructs is also contingent upon location strategies. Having their overseas assets dispersed in developed host economies represents a more favourable strategic choice for the British multinational enterprises in our sample. On the basis of the insights derived from the empirical efforts in this thesis we generated several contributions for the international business field, which are pertinent to the research on speed of multinational expansion. The key implication is that we have explicitly considered the multidimensional nature of the construct of speed. This study also enriches the long-standing debate about the relationship between multinational diversification and firm performance, as it augmented the established framework with a temporally dynamic perspective.