The Measurement of International Experience as a Dimension of Board Indices: Concept for an Improvement

Abstract

In recent years, the internationality of enterprises, relying on adequate management resources, has gained in importance. One resource is the "International Experience of the Board" which for lack of primary data very often can be measured on the basis of secondary data only. The lack of primary data on the one hand and the public interest on the other hand leads to the creation of partly simplified board indices based on more or less random measures / variables or compositions with limited informative value. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the need for an improvement of such indices composed of secondary data and to develop a new concept for a board index ("InEx WE "). The new index is based on the available secondary data, too, and has to be seen as a suboptimal solution but in contrast to some other indices this index offers the advantage of subdividing "International Experience" into different subareas and separate weighting factors to improve its informative value. First results of a pilot study indicate an additional informative value.

Internationalization and Performance Outcomes of Entrepreneurial Family SMEs: The Role of Outside CEOs, Technology Sourcing, and Innovation

“…Finally, the international experience construct was measured simply by the presence or absence of working abroad. To fully understand whether the CEO possesses international experience that is valuable, rare, and difficult to imitate, researchers argued the need for a richer construct that considers different characteristics such as the individual's international network ties, foreign language proficiency, cultural differentiation, and international education (e.g., Sommer, ).…”

La compétence interculturelle est-elle acquise grâce à l’expérience internationale ?

“…l'expéRience inteRnAtionAle L'expérience internationale est une notion souvent évoquée, mais rarement précisément définie. Au niveau d'analyse des équipes (comme les équipes de direction par exemple), le terme d'expérience internationale inclut la diversité de nationalités au sein de l'équipe (Sommer, 2012). Au niveau individuel, l'expérience internationale correspond au vécu (personnel et professionnel) de la personne dans des contextes nationaux autres que celui d'origine (Hambrick et al, 1998).…”

“…Gregoric et al (2009) ajoutent également la maîtrise de langues étrangères et l'appartenance à des réseaux (personnels ou professionnels) internationaux. L'expérience internationale peut ainsi être catégorisée selon le lieu d'acquisition (dans un contexte international au sein du pays d'origine ou dans des pays plus ou moins éloignés), selon l'objet (vie professionnelle ou privée) et le mode ou la période d'acquisition (école, université, travail) (Sommer, 2012).…”

“…A l'instar de Takeuchi et al (2005) et Sommer (2012 et conformément aux définitions développées plus haut, l'expérience internationale a également été envisagée comme un phénomène multidimensionnel. Nous avons relevé des éléments liés à la mobilité internationale et des occasions d'interaction internationale sans mobilité.…”

The Influence of Experience and Cognitive Style on International Entrepreneurial Intentions: The Contribution of Academic Education in this Relation

“…As I have already discussed in various articles, there are in general diverging estimates with regard to the relationship between experience and intentions (e.g. Albarracín & Wyer, 2000;Hsu & Lu, 2004;Kim, Choi, & Han, 2009;Ouellette & Wood, 1998;Pomery, Gibbons, Reis-Bergan, & Gerrard, 2009;Sheeran & Orbell, 1999) and International Experience (IE) and intention in particular (Sommer, 2011, Sommer, 2012, Sommer, 2013.…”