MNE institutional advantage: How subunits shape, transpose and evade host country institutions. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol.45, No.3, pp.275-30 (2014)

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Scholars increasingly emphasize the impact of institutions on multinational enterprises (MNEs), but the opposite relationship has attracted less research - that is, MNE agency in relation to institutions. Based on a comparative case study of six MNEs from the United States and Sweden, this paper remedies this. It explores and explicates MNE subunits' strategic responses to host country institutional constraints and opportunities in five different regions. A new-institutional approach is adopted, which allows for an investigation of MNE subunit agency in relation to normative and cognitive institutions, as well as regulative ones. This fine-grained analysis reveals not only what kinds of responses MNE subunits invoke, but why and how they are able to respond.

We identify four strategic responses by which subunits shape, transpose and evade institutions in the pursuit of competitive advantage: Innovation, Arbitrage, Circumvention and Adaptation. These responses are driven by three key enablers: multinationality, foreignness and institutional ambiguity - that serve to enhance and heighten three mechanisms: reflexivity, role expectations and resources. By linking the enablers and the mechanisms to specific types of strategic responses in a framework and typology, the paper not only contributes to emerging research on the interplay between MNEs, institutions and strategy, but to strategy practice.

Welfare states and the redistribution of happiness. Social Forces, Volume 92, Issue 2, pp. 789-814

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We use data from the 2002 International Social Survey Programme, with roughly 42,000 individuals nested within twenty-nine countries, to examine the determinants of happiness in a comparative perspective. We hypothesize that social democratic welfare states redistribute happiness among policy-targeted demographic groups in these countries. The redistributive properties of the social democratic welfare states generate an alternate form of "happiness inequality" in which winners and losers are defined by marital status, presence of children, and income. We apply multilevel modeling and focus on public social expenditures (as percentage of GDP) as proxy measures of state intervention at the macro level, and happiness as the specific measure of welfare outcome at the micro level. We find that aggregate happiness is not greater in the social democratic welfare states, but happiness closely reflects the redistribution of resources in these countries. Happiness is redistributed from low-risk to high-risk individuals. For example, women with small children are significantly happier, but single persons are significantly less happy in the welfare states. This suggests that the pro-family ideology of the social democratic welfare states protects families from social risk and improves their well-being at the cost of single persons. Further, we find that the happiness gap between high- versus low-income earners is considerably smaller in the social democratic welfare states, suggesting that happiness is redistributed from the privileged to the less privileged.

The creation of consumption practices: Framing contests among multiple firms across multiple industries. Proceedings of the European Sociological Association 2013 Turin, Italy August 28-31, 2013 p. 254

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Drawing on social movement research on framing, this paper develops a model of framing contests at the social level (between multiple firms across multiple industries) to elucidate how cognitive frames influence the creation of consumption practices. This paper is based on Goffman's (1974/1986) frame theory. By using the content analysis of firm advertisements and press releases, the author examines the ways firms construct the frames and influence consumers to adopt the consumption practice. Frames are the means by which consumers make sense of new consumption practice and rely on to decide its adoption. The findings are two-folds. First, predominant frames within an industry are constructed through the imitative behavior of firms. Where the specific frame about the consumption practice is successful in mobilizing consumers, the firms imitate and use the same frame in their advertisements. Through such imitative behaviors, the frame becomes predominant frame of the industry. Second, the collective action frames are constructed through the framing contests among multiple industries. Where predominant frame is congruent, it becomes the collective action frame that prevails in the society. Collective action frame inspires and legitimates the new consumption practice. Where predominant frame about the consumption practice is not congruent, the firms engage in framing practices to make their frame resonate with consumers and to mobilize actions. The findings contribute to a theoretical understanding of the creation of consumption practices and the social dynamics among multiple firms across multiple industries.

Consequences of Beliefs about the Malleability of Creativity. Creativity Research Journal, v25,n2, (201304): pp155-162

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Attempts to maximize creativity pervade corporate, artistic, and scientific domains. This research investigated how individual's lay beliefs about the malleability of creativity affect several measures of creative potential. Two correlational and 1 experimental study examined the relationship between malleability beliefs about creativity and creative problem-solving and prior creative achievement. In Study 1, incremental beliefs in creativity were associated with interest in creative thinking, self-reported creativity, and creative problem-solving. In Study 2, incremental beliefs were associated with prior creative achievement in a cross-cultural, professional sample. In Study 3, incremental primes of creativity led to improved creative problem-solving. All studies provide discriminant validity and domain-specificity for malleability beliefs in creativity. Specifically, Studies 1 and 2 controlled for individual differences in beliefs about the malleability of intelligence, suggesting that malleability beliefs of creativity and intelligence are meaningfully distinct. Meanwhile, Study 3 found that incremental beliefs of creativity enhance creative problem-solving but not problem-solving more generally.

Reverse knowledge diffusion: Competitive dynamics and the knowledge seeking behavior of Korean high-tech firms. Asia Pacific Journal of Management 2014 Vol.31 No.2 pp.355-375

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This paper endeavors to enrich the existing knowledge acquisition literatures by specifically highlighting downsides of external ties of individuals. We introduce the concept of reverse knowledge diffusion (RKD) through external ties of individuals, and develop theoretical propositions to explain how the risks of RKD vary based on competitive dynamics and status of firms as innovation market leaders or market followers. We develop the construct of RKD to help explain why rivals may pursue contrasting knowledge seeking strategies with regards to leverage external ties of individuals, the timing of establishing these ties, and ex ante control mechanisms designed to regulate these relationships. We also discuss how our propositions advance the theory of knowledge seeking behaviors and generate future research opportunities.

Bank-Firm Relationships and Accounting Conservatism: Evidence from Japan. The Journal of Management Accounting, Japan 2013 Volume Supplement 2 pp.99-119

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Banks play a central role in corporate governance in many economies around the world. We compare the extent of conditional and unconditional conservatism between firms with and without close working relationships with their banks in order to gain insights into how bank-firm relationships affect the conservatism of financial reports. When bank-firm relationships are strong, we posit that investors will be less concerned about the timely recognition of economic losses (i.e., conditional conservatism should be weaker) because these investors can rely on the banks to monitor management. However, Japanese banks have incentives to direct managers to report lower earnings (i.e., to be unconditionally conservative) so that managers can benefit when negotiating payouts to the other takeholders. As predicted, empirical analyses reveal that firms with close bank-firm relationships recognize economic losses in a less timely manner, consistent with less conditional conservatism. and that these firms' accruals are more income-decreasing, consistent with greater unconditional conservatism.

Family Flexibility and Children’s Time Involvement with Parents　Journal of Comparative Family Studies 2013 Vol.44 No. 2 pp.137-156　

Open Innovation and Innovation Performance: The Role of Managers in Partner Diversity, Technology Protection and Creativity. The Journal of Professional Management 2013 Vol.16 No.1 pp.41- 6