State-Owned Enterprises as Institutional Actors: A Hybrid Historical Institutionalist and Institutional Work Framework

Olivier Butzbach, Douglas B. Fuller, Gerhard Schnyder, Liudmyla Svystunova

Abstract
Although state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are recognized as important economic actors, the literature to date has assumed close state control over SOEs and, therefore, their passive stance towards institutions. Drawing on the institutional work and historical institutionalism literatures, we challenge this view. We develop a multilevel framework of SOE top management teams’ (TMTs’) embedded agency, spanning the national macro-institutional level, the meso-level of regimes of state-SOE relations, and sector-specific institutions. We then derive propositions regarding the factors across these multiple levels that shape SOE TMTs’ motivation, resources, and scope for institutional work. This framework allows us to explain the leeway for and likelihood of SOE TMTs’ engagement in institutional work across institutional contexts.

Impact of Subsidiary TMT Network Attention on Innovation: The Moderating Role of Subsidiary Autonomy

Shi-quan Wang, Shuang Zhang, and Guo-yin Shang

Abstract
This article takes group subsidiaries that were listed in the A-share market of Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges in China from 2012 to 2017 as the research subject and innovatively explores the impact of subsidiary TMT (top management team) attention at different networks on subsidiary innovation, considering dual network embedding characteristics and autonomy of subsidiaries. Results show that subsidiary TMT group network attention will inhibit subsidiary innovation, while their external network attention will promote subsidiary innovation, after the inclusion of industry category factors, the effect has changed accordingly, but the moderating effect of subsidiary autonomy on the relationship between subsidiary TMT attention on different networks and subsidiary innovation is always significant. The identification of subsidiary TMT attention not only supplements to current literature’s narrow focus on impact of the group parent company attention on subsidiary behaviors, but also broadens theoretical understanding of the driving factors of innovation behavior of subsidiaries. Through expounding on the moderating role of subsidiary autonomy, this article clarifies boundary conditions of subsidiary TMT attention’s impact on subsidiary innovation and provides operable guidance for subsidiary TMT to allocate and utilize their attention to promote the development of subsidiary innovation behaviors.

How Knowledge Services Clustered Firms Leverage Different Channels of Local Knowledge Spillovers for Service Innovation

Thi (Alice) N. B. Ngo and Sabrina Thornton

Abstract
Built upon configuration theory, this study performs a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to delineate alternative and sufficient configurations of local knowledge spillover (LKS) channels, that is, how informal interactions and spinoff, and absorptive capacity are combined to facilitate service innovation. Primary data was collected from the largest software outsourcing cluster in Vietnam in 2018, which provides a sample size of 42 firms. The findings imply that multiple configurations of different channels of LKS in conjunction with absorptive capacity can lead to service innovation. This study makes three important contributions. First, it contributes to the debate over the critical role of LKS and absorptive capacity in innovation by offering a more holistic, yet nuanced understanding of the causal mechanisms underlying service innovation. Second, this study sheds light on viable and equifinal pathways for enhancing innovation capabilities, therefore contributing to the literature on cluster upgrading and global service sourcing. Third, it provides some managerial implications for indigenous spinoff firms in developing countries seeking to innovate through the strategic use of LKS.

What Motivates Emerging Economy Firms to Internationalize? A Replication and Extension of Ahsan et al. (2020) in the Context of China

Can Huang, Felix Conde, Lin Cui, and Yao Fu

Abstract
Ahsan, Sinha, and Srinivasan (2020) studied the motives of knowledge-intensive Indian firms’ international expansion based on resource-based considerations and the locational advantages offered by host countries. They identified firm characteristics associated with strategic asset-seeking, opportunity-seeking, and market-seeking motives. In this replication study, we examine Ahsan et al.’s (2020) model in the Chinese context. Based on our improved empirical model, our findings reveal some similarities but more importantly some key differences in the antecedents of internationalization motives between Indian and Chinese firms. Drawing on insights from prior studies, we propose that these differences can be attributed to differences in absorptive capacity, international expansion scales and patterns, ownership type, and the home institutional contexts in which Indian and Chinese firms operate. Overall, this replication study demonstrates the importance of contextualizing international business research.

Enabling the Creative Performance of Indian IT Employees Through Their Voice: The Mediating Role of Psychosocial Prosperity

R. Prince and M. Kameshwar Rao

Abstract
Organizations largely depend on their employees’ creativity to attain a competitive advantage. Drawing on Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) theory, this study examines whether employees’ voice behavior (promotive and prohibitive) can be harnessed to improve their creative performance. By exploring the mediating role of psychosocial prosperity and moderating effects of employees’ perception of their influence at work and their feelings of alienation, this study offers a unique model that enhances the literature on voice and creativity. Data collected from 285 Information Technology professionals in India reveals that both forms of voice lead to creative performance, and psychosocial prosperity mediates this positive relationship. This finding offers different insight for scholars as much of the voice literature expects prohibitive voice to yield negative results for the employee because of its associated risks. Also, employees’ perceived influence at work strengthens the positive effect of promotive voice on psychosocial prosperity, while alienation weakens the relationship between psychosocial prosperity and creativity performance. The study concludes by discussing the implications, limitations, and directions for future researchers.

Navigating Cultural Divides via Identity Work: Bulgarian Migrant Entrepreneurs’ Tactics in the UK

Stoyan Stoyanov and Veselina Stoyanova

Abstract
The changing geopolitical landscapes and increased migration flow across the world call for a fresh perspective on the sociocultural and economic integration of migrants in their new ‘homes’ and ‘communities’. In this qualitative process study, we provide insight into the identity work dynamics that underlie interfirm cooperation in the new business context. We see a sample of Bulgarian migrant entrepreneurs as knowledge boundary spanners who employ identity work tactics for the development of shared norms and values that facilitate knowledge exchange between their home culture and the UK host culture context. This study suggests that knowledge boundary spanning is enabled by a temporal identity work process, characterized by a series of inward and outward identity work tactics. The interplay between inward and outward identity work tactics occurs over phases of identifying identity differences, adopting identity cues, and finally, realizing hybrid identity. This article contributes to the identity work and migrant entrepreneurship literature by exploring the underlying mechanisms for realizing knowledge boundary spanning by migrant entrepreneurs.