Top management team attributes, multinationality and MNE performance : evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Business at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
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Date
2023
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Massey University
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Abstract
The purpose of this research is to investigate how top management team (TMT) attributes explain the performance of Chinese Multinational Enterprises (CMNEs) by examining four TMT attributes: TMT tenure, TMT educational level, TMT international experience and TMT functional diversity. I propose that TMT attributes function as the micro-foundation of CMNEs’ performance. Previous research suggests that these selected attributes of top managers are valid proxies for TMT attitudes affecting international multinational decisions. Therefore, based on upper echelons theory and institutional theory, this research examines how multinationality mediates the relationship between TMT attributes and CMNE performance and how institutional factors of state ownership and formal institutional distance moderate the impact of TMT attributes on multinationality.
This research applies a quantitative method by using large-scale secondary data to assess the proposed hypotheses. The sample generates panel data consisting of 7,627 firm-year observations from 1,125 publicly listed CMNEs. 56,188 individual top managers’ profiles are created to compute the TMT data for the sampled firms in the period from 2007 to 2019.
Based on the sample of CMNEs in the manufacturing industry, the findings suggest that TMT tenure and TMT educational level have significant impacts on CMNEs’ performance and there is a U-shaped relationship between a firm’s multinationality and its performance. Moreover, multinationality partially mediates the direct TMT tenure and performance relationship. In addition, the institutional contexts the firms face in terms of state ownership and formal institutional distance are found to moderate the influence of some of TMT attributes on multinationality.
The findings from this study contribute to the body of research grounded in upper echelons theory and institutional theory. It enriches the international business literature by exploring the effects of TMT attributes on multinationality. It empirically confirms that TMT tenure and TMT educational level function as a micro-foundation which has significant impacts on CMNEs’ performance, while the relationship between TMT tenure and CMNE performance is partially mediated by multinationality. Moreover, it further explores the contingency factors and boundary conditions in terms of state ownership and formal institutional distance for the relationship between TMT attributes and multinationality.
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Keywords
International business enterprises, Manufacturing industries, Management, Industrial management, China, TMT attributes, TMT tenure, TMT educational level, TMT international experience, TMT functional diversity, international strategy, multinationality, CMNEs, firm performance