We need more knowledge about the bases of internationalization and how the resources used can affect the outcomes of this strategy. Specifically, we examine the importance of valuable firm resources, human capital and relational capital (with corporate clients and with foreign governments), to internationalization and their moderation of the internationalization-firm performance relationship in professional service firms. The results show that human capital and relational capital generally have a positive effect on internationalization (however, relational capital with corporate clients is only positive when teamed with strong human capital). Additionally, we find that human capital positively moderates the relationship between internationalization and firm performance. However, neither form of relational capital moderates the internationalization-firm performance relationship. While relational capital with corporate clients has a strong positive effect on firm performance, relational capital with foreign government clients has a negative effect on firm performance.

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) often encounter government corruption when operating in host countries; however, in the international management literature, it is typically assumed that government officials pursue national interests rather than their own. We introduce a two-dimensional framework to further the understanding of public sector corruption and identify its implications for MNEs. Using an institutional perspective, we examine how the pervasiveness and arbitrariness of corruption can affect an MNE's organizational legitimacy and strategic decision making. We apply our analysis to the mode of entry decision.