From Cross-Cultural Economic Experiments to Experimental 

Indigenous Management Research – A Suggestion

ABSTRACT This study provides an overview, categorization, and integration of what has been achieved in the niche of cross-culture experimental economics (CCEE) so far, aiming to inspire indigenous management researchers to extend their methodological toolbox by including experimental methods. As a result of the review, we find that most of the early studies lack depth and contextualization as well as detailed explanation about why human behavior differs. Hence, a better understanding about the influence of culture on economic decision making is rather limited if it cannot be explained in more detail. In contrast, deep contextualization is a principle in indigenous management research (IMR). Both have so far not benefited from each other in the study of how culture affects human behavior, as both currently develop in parallel. Following the call for high-quality IMR (Tsui, 2004), this paper argues that an experimental methodology can make a contribution to IMR in the future by drawing on the strengths of both IMR (i.e., contextualization) and CCEE (i.e., methodology).

KEYWORDS contextualization, culture, experimental economics, indigenous management research, research methods

The Cross-Cultural Variation of the Effects of Transformational Leadership Behaviors on Followers’ Organizational Identification: The Case of Idealized Influence and Individualized Consideration in Finland and Russia

ABSTRACT   In this article, we examine the cross-cultural variation in the perceived effects of idealized influence and individualized consideration leadership behaviors – two behavioral dimensions of transformational leadership – on followers’ organizational identification in two culturally distinct countries: Russia and Finland. We also test whether the followers’ role ambiguity mediates these relationships. Using the self-concept-based theory of leadership as an explanatory framework, our analysis of white-collar employees in four Finland-based multinational corporations and their subsidiaries in Russia shows that whereas in Russia both behaviors facilitate followers’ identification, in Finland only idealized influence does. We also find differences in how role ambiguity mediates the relationship between the two behaviors and followers’ identification in the two countries. In Russia, it fully mediates the relationship between individualized consideration and followers’ identification, whereas in Finland it partially mediates the relationship between idealized influence and followers’ identification.

KEYWORDS  Finland, follower-centric leadership, organizational identification, role ambiguity, Russia, transformational leadership

An Alternative Way to Make Knowledge Sharing 

Work in Online Communities? The Effects of Hidden Knowledge Facilitators

ABSTRACT Some firms use hidden knowledge facilitators (HKFs) to facilitate knowledge sharing among employees within intrafirm online communities. These firms hope for enhanced knowledge sharing outcomes within their organizations without letting employees know that HKFs exist. Yet, the extent to which HKFs’ interventions are effective remains unknown to researchers and managers. Built on the knowledge sharing (KS) literature, this study explores the unique roles of HKFs as moderators between a company and its employees. We develop several hypotheses to test the impact of the quantity and quality of HKFs’ online interventions on several KS outcomes. By analyzing log data of a Chinese corporation’s online R&D community, we find that (1) the quantity of HKFs’ intervention has a mostly positive impact on KS outcomes; (2) the quality of HKFs’ intervention has a mixed impact on several KS outcomes, depending on which aspect of quantity is considered; and (3) the quality of HKFs’ intervention also moderates the positive impact of the quantity of HKFs’ intervention in different ways on different intended KS outcomes. This study makes a clear contribution to the literature on knowledge sharing and knowledge facilitation by demonstrating the impact of HKFs on KS outcomes in a Chinese context.

KEYWORDS bandwagon effect, content analysis, divergent and convergent thinking, knowledge facilitator, knowledge sharing, online communities

Domestic Acquisition Experience and the Internationalization 

of Chinese Firms: The Role of Institutional Heterogeneity

ABSTRACT The liability of foreignness increases firm risk of doing business abroad. However, it appears not to deter Chinese firms as evidenced by their risky internationalization pattern. This study is concerned with explaining this phenomenon. Drawing on organizational learning and institutional theories, I argue that institutional heterogeneity in China gives firms an opportunity to develop routines to overcome the liability of foreignness through acquisition experience gained outside of their home provinces. Further, I propose that coastal and inland firms draw different routines from their acquisition experiences. I test these arguments on a panel data of listed Chinese firms, tracing their acquisition behavior from 2006 to 2015. My analyses suggest that acquisition experience outside of home province matters and that, in the case of inland firms, coastal acquisition experience facilitates subsequent internationalization. The present study contributes to the literature on the internationalization of Chinese firms. It highlights the value of context-specific measures for Chinese management research, sheds light on the functionality of institutional heterogeneity in China and provides evidence to re-evaluate the riskiness of Chinese firms’ internationalization pattern.

KEYWORDS acquisitions, China, institutional heterogeneity, internationalization, liability of foreignness

Team Leaders Matter in Knowledge Sharing: A Cross-Level Analysis of the Interplay between 

Leaders’ and Members’ Goal Orientations in the Chinese Context

ABSTRACT  This article investigates the impact of cross-level interplay between team members’ and their leaders’ goal orientations (learning, performance approach, and performance avoidance) on knowledge sharing using samples from design teams in two companies in China. Our results show that team leaders’ learning goal orientation plays a critical moderating role. Specifically, team leaders’ learning goal orientation strengthens the positive relationship between team members’ learning orientation and knowledge sharing; positively moderates the relationship between team members’ performance approach orientation and knowledge sharing; and weakens the negative relationship between team members’ performance avoidance orientation and knowledge sharing. Team leaders’ performance approach orientation demonstrates a positive moderating effect when there is congruence between the performance approach orientation of leaders and members. Finally, team leaders’ performance avoidance orientation negatively moderates the relationship between team members’ learning and performance approach orientation on knowledge sharing. This research enhances our understanding of the conditions under which knowledge sharing occurs among team members, using the lens of Trait Activation Theory.

KEYWORDS China, cross-level interplay, goal orientation, knowledge sharing, trait activation theory