MNEs' agency within institutional contexts : a study of Walmart's post-acquisition practices in Mexico, Germany, and Japan
The issue of MNEs' adaptation to host country institutional environments in their post-cross-border acquisition implementation, and the outcomes thereof, remains underexplored in international management studies. The purpose of this paper is to assess the applicability of three institutional ap...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/151729 |
| _version_ | 1824456841575268352 |
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| author | Tsui-Auch, Lai Si Chow, Dawn |
| author2 | Nanyang Business School |
| author_facet | Nanyang Business School Tsui-Auch, Lai Si Chow, Dawn |
| author_sort | Tsui-Auch, Lai Si |
| collection | NTU |
| description | The issue of MNEs' adaptation to host country institutional environments in their post-cross-border acquisition implementation, and the outcomes thereof, remains underexplored in international management studies. The purpose of this paper is to assess the applicability of three institutional approaches — (1) the earlier variant of the neoinstitutional theory (ENIT), (2) its recent variant (RNIT), and the comparative institutional analysis approach (CIA) — to explain (non)adaptation behavior in host country environments. Using Walmart's acquisition cases, we show that the MNE adopted a non-adaptation behavior in Mexico and Germany—countries which represent vastly different institutional environments—and succeeded in the former, but failed and withdrew from the market in the latter. However, in the Japanese institutional environment, which is similar to the German one, Walmart engaged in selective adaptation and survived in the market. Based on the case data, we offer a critical assessment of the applicability of the three approaches. These three approaches provide a base on which to develop a model to explain the relationship between institutional influences, an MNE's organizational agency and adaptation behavior, as well as outcomes. Moreover, we discuss future research directions and provide implications for practitioners related to MNEs' adaptation behavior and the ensuing outcomes in host markets. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:00:31Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/151729 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:00:31Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1517292023-05-19T07:31:16Z MNEs' agency within institutional contexts : a study of Walmart's post-acquisition practices in Mexico, Germany, and Japan Tsui-Auch, Lai Si Chow, Dawn Nanyang Business School Business::General Neoinstitutional Theory Comparative Institutional Analysis The issue of MNEs' adaptation to host country institutional environments in their post-cross-border acquisition implementation, and the outcomes thereof, remains underexplored in international management studies. The purpose of this paper is to assess the applicability of three institutional approaches — (1) the earlier variant of the neoinstitutional theory (ENIT), (2) its recent variant (RNIT), and the comparative institutional analysis approach (CIA) — to explain (non)adaptation behavior in host country environments. Using Walmart's acquisition cases, we show that the MNE adopted a non-adaptation behavior in Mexico and Germany—countries which represent vastly different institutional environments—and succeeded in the former, but failed and withdrew from the market in the latter. However, in the Japanese institutional environment, which is similar to the German one, Walmart engaged in selective adaptation and survived in the market. Based on the case data, we offer a critical assessment of the applicability of the three approaches. These three approaches provide a base on which to develop a model to explain the relationship between institutional influences, an MNE's organizational agency and adaptation behavior, as well as outcomes. Moreover, we discuss future research directions and provide implications for practitioners related to MNEs' adaptation behavior and the ensuing outcomes in host markets. Nanyang Technological University The research described herein was supported by a research grant from Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University. 2021-07-16T04:50:52Z 2021-07-16T04:50:52Z 2019 Journal Article Tsui-Auch, L. S. & Chow, D. (2019). MNEs' agency within institutional contexts : a study of Walmart's post-acquisition practices in Mexico, Germany, and Japan. Journal of International Management, 25(2), 100655-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2018.11.001 1075-4253 0000-0002-7544-4859 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/151729 10.1016/j.intman.2018.11.001 2-s2.0-85059325197 2 25 100655 en Journal of International Management © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Business::General Neoinstitutional Theory Comparative Institutional Analysis Tsui-Auch, Lai Si Chow, Dawn MNEs' agency within institutional contexts : a study of Walmart's post-acquisition practices in Mexico, Germany, and Japan |
| title | MNEs' agency within institutional contexts : a study of Walmart's post-acquisition practices in Mexico, Germany, and Japan |
| title_full | MNEs' agency within institutional contexts : a study of Walmart's post-acquisition practices in Mexico, Germany, and Japan |
| title_fullStr | MNEs' agency within institutional contexts : a study of Walmart's post-acquisition practices in Mexico, Germany, and Japan |
| title_full_unstemmed | MNEs' agency within institutional contexts : a study of Walmart's post-acquisition practices in Mexico, Germany, and Japan |
| title_short | MNEs' agency within institutional contexts : a study of Walmart's post-acquisition practices in Mexico, Germany, and Japan |
| title_sort | mnes agency within institutional contexts a study of walmart s post acquisition practices in mexico germany and japan |
| topic | Business::General Neoinstitutional Theory Comparative Institutional Analysis |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/151729 |
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