The Organizers’ Ecology: An Empirical Study of Foreign Banks in Shanghai

Abstract

T he organizing stages that predate entry into an organizational population were studied from an ecological perspective. Based on a detailed analysis of foreign banks in Shanghai, findings are presented that suggest that the likelihood of moving from the organizing phase to the operational stages is nonmonotonically dependent on the length of the waiting time. We found that firms seeking to gain entry into a population are negatively affected by the presence of other organizers in close geographical proximity, while the number of already-established organizations has an inverted U-shaped relationship with the aspirant's likelihood of entering a relationship that operates more broadly. After investigating the effect of the geographical location of other potential entrants, as well as the effect of relative sizes and countries of origin, we have drawn inferences about the strength of these competitors' identities and their impact on a social actor's decision to enter the population. Our findings are informative not only for those studying organizational founding patterns, but also for those interested in the early process of identity formation.

Intercommunity relationships and community growth in China's high technology industries 1988–2000

“…Instead, they utilized binary density measures and examined the density dependence model on different geographic scales (e.g., density at the national level versus density at the local level) (Stuart and Sorenson, 2003: 239). In general, these studies found that the effect of density is stronger when density is measured on a more limited geographic scale (e.g., Baum and Mezias, 1992;Carroll and Wade, 1991;Kuilman and Li, 2006;Lomi, 1995;Sorenson and Audia, 2000). There are some exceptions, however.…”

The Handover in Hong Kong: Impact on Business Formation

“…For the managers of firms, strategic adaptation to a changing political environment presents great challenges because the transformation is often not calculable and its outcomes are unclear (Dobrev 1999;. Similar concerns rattle potential entrepreneursuncertainty scares off many of them and their investors and lowers the predictability of the proceses of both initiating organizing activity and moving from there to the actual start of business operations (Kuilman and Li 2006).…”

A review of foreign business management in China

“…Tai, 1988;Weldon & Vanhonacker, 1999;Wu, 1982) • China's economic reform and market transition, and performance implications for foreign business (Buck et al, 2000;Child & Tse, 2001;Peng, 2001) • Trade relationship between US-China and its implications for foreign businesses in China (Rondinelli, 1993) • Globalization and firms' self-regulation of environmental performance (Christmann & Taylor, 2001) • China's consumer value and choices (Hung et al, 2007) 2. FDI/Foreign Entry Strategy Antecedents • Globalization, China market evolution, and FDI (Cui, 1998) • Motives and drivers for FDIs into China (Li & Filer, 2007;Rothaermel et al, 2006;Sethi et al, 2003;Yin & Choi, 2005) • Country-of-origin effects on FDI inflow (Schroath et al, 1993) • The importance of social considerations and inter-firm learning on foreign entry rates and founding patterns (Guillen, 2002;Kuilman & Li, 2006) • Host country-, home country-, and industry-level determinants of entry mode choices (Tse et al, 1997) • Firm characteristics and their interactions with contextual variables on entry mode choices and evolution (Guillen, 2003;Pan & Li, 2000;Pan & Tse, 2000;Xia et al, 2008), and entry timing …”

“…Many others focused on antecedents to a range of foreign entry decisions, including expansion rate (Guillen, 2002;Kuilman & Li, 2006), entry mode choices and their evolution (Guillen, 2003;Li, Yang, & Yue, 2007;Pan & Li, 2000;Pan & Tse, 2000;Xia, Tan, & Tan, 2008), entry timing (Gaba, Pan, & Ungson, 2002), and FDI location (Chang & Park, 2005;Li & Park, 2006;Makino, Lau, & Yeh, 2002;Pak & Park, 2005;Zhou, Delios, & Yang, 2002). Among them, some focused on firm characteristics such as size, experience, capabilities, and level of internationalization, and their interactions with contextual variables (Gaba et al, 2002;Guillen, 2003;Li & Park, 2006;Makino et al, 2002).…”

“…Among them, some focused on firm characteristics such as size, experience, capabilities, and level of internationalization, and their interactions with contextual variables (Gaba et al, 2002;Guillen, 2003;Li & Park, 2006;Makino et al, 2002). Some highlighted the importance of social considerations and inter-firm learning, such as legitimacy and imitation (Guillen, 2002(Guillen, , 2003Kuilman & Li, 2006;Xia et al, 2008). Two studies compared FDI locations across nations, including China (Makino et al, 2002;Pak & Park, 2005), and three others compared FDI locations within China, giving more systematic recognition to China's regional diversity (Chang & Park, 2005;Li & Park, 2006;Zhou et al, 2002).…”