Current debates in global strategy

Abstract

Debates help drive research forward. This paper is unique in its review of four current debates in the global strategy arena: (1) cultural vs institutional distance; (2) global vs regional geographic diversification; (3) convergence vs divergence in corporate governance; and (4) domestic vs overseas corporate social responsibility. For each debate, the history is tracked and the emerging tension highlighted. By introducing both sides of four lively and timely debates, the paper provides an innovative way of reviewing the literature and helping to advance the field. It is argued that an underlying theme connecting these four diverse debates is the institution-based view of global strategy.

The Effects of Institutional Distance on Foreign-Owned Subsidiary Development: The Case of the Northwest of England

“…Testing for interaction effects of formal and informal institutions on multinational strategy, has been called for in the literature (e.g. Peng & Pleggenkuhle-Miles, 2009;Rugman et al, 2011). In this study, the topic is explored in the context of the strategic development of foreign-owned subsidiaries.…”

Multinational Enterprises and Distance: Exploring Opportunities and Challenges Involved in Practicing CSR in Host-Countries

“…Given CSR as a form of investment, and corporate resources to be limited, resources devoted to hostcountry CSR, suggest fewer resources remaining for home-country CSR (Peng and Pleggenkuhle-Miles, 2009). From the perspectives of MNEs' global strategy, an important issue within the larger debate on CSR is:…”

“…While many studies have analysed the role of MNEs in CSR (see Husted and Allen, 2006;Logsdon and Wood, 2002;Snider et al, 2003), little attention has been given to "CSR dualities" (Peng and Pleggenkuhle-Miles, 2009) that MNEs face. Given CSR as a form of investment, and corporate resources to be limited, resources devoted to hostcountry CSR, suggest fewer resources remaining for home-country CSR (Peng and Pleggenkuhle-Miles, 2009).…”

Innovation, institutions and cultures: Exploring the European context

“…According to this theory, the national institutional context has a significant impact on rules of competition, firm strategy, and performance; and a more efficient institutional context favours market exchanges and the growth of the national economy (North, 1990;Wan & Hoskisson, 2003). Peng & Pleggenkuhle-Miles (2009) identifies the emergence of the institution-based view as a third leading perspective in strategic management, the first two being the industry-based and resource-based views. Overall, they suggest that the institution-based view represents the third leg of a strategy tripod, overcomes the long-standing criticisms of the industry-based and resource-based views' lack of attention to contexts, and contributes significant new insights as part of the broader intellectual movement centered on new institutionalism (Peng, 2002;Peng & Delios, 2006).…”

“…As such, there is an opportunity to conduct valuable research. Drawing on our existing work on innovation (Crowe et al, 2007;Vecchi & Brennan, 2009a, 2009bVecchi et al, 2013) by taking a cross-cultural perspective (Della Piana & Vivacqua, 2012;Capaldo et al, 2012a;Vecchi et al, 2013) and by endorsing an institution-based view (Peng & Pleggenkuhle-Miles, 2009;Luo, Sun, & Wang Lu, 2011) in this paper we seek to assess the innovation performance of firms across sixteen European countries. The aim of this explorative study is to compare from a cross-cultural perspective the innovation performance of firms across sixteen European countries (Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, the UK) in order to identify their distinctive local innovation dynamics.…”