Klaus E. Meyer is Professor of International Business at Ivey Business School. He joined in 2017 after six years at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai.
Professor Meyer is a leading scholar in the field of international business conducting research on the strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs), especially foreign entry strategies, in emerging economies, especially Eastern Europe and East Asia. A central theme of his research is the influence of local contexts on the strategies and operations of MNEs operating in emerging economies. Recent work is investigating the strategies of MNEs originating from emerging economies, in particular China, and how their origins shape their international growth strategies.
He has published over 80 articles in leading scholarly journals, in particular in Journal of International Business Studies, Strategic Management Journal and Journal of Management Studies, and he published nine books, including the textbook “International Business” (with Mike Peng, published by Cengage Learning, 3rd ed., 2019). He is serving as Area Editor of the Journal of International Business Studies since July 2016. In 2012-2014, he was Vice President of the AIB and chaired the 2014 AIB conference in Vancouver, Canada.
-
Meyer, K. E., 2022, "India and China: Distinct Paths to Global Businesses", Management and Organization Review: 1 - 7.
-
Aguinis, H.; Audretsch, D. B.; Flammer, C.; Meyer, K. E.; Peng, M. W.; Teece, D. J., 2022, "Bringing the Manager Back Into Management Scholarship", Journal of Management, September 48(7): 1849 - 1857.
Abstract: The manager is often neglected in management scholarship. Although we are not the first to call for renewed attention to managers, given the rapidly evolving state of the environment in which firms operate, it seems an apropos moment to reflect on the importance of managers and remind ourselves to incorporate them into our ideas, relationships, and theories. We provide reasons for the current state of affairs and offer four actionable recommendations for making the manager a more central character in our research planning, execution, and dissemination: (1) listen to managers, (2) develop and test theories that include the manager explicitly, (3) conduct research at multiple levels of analysis and using multiple methods, and (4) find synergies across seemingly competing academic engagements.
Link(s) to publication:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/01492063221082555
-
Meyer, K. E.; Li, C., 2022, "The MNE and its subsidiaries at times of global disruptions: An international relations perspective", Global Strategy Journal, August 12(3): 555 - 577.
Abstract: Research Summary: The global economy has recently entered a period of disruptions, increasing barriers to cross-border business and potentially inhibiting the merits and legitimacy of integrated global strategies. We explore how three major disruptions in the global economy (reduced people mobility, divergent national regulatory institutions, and anti-globalization populism) affect the strategies of multinational enterprises, and, in particular, the role of their foreign subsidiaries. These external disruptions call for a reassessment of theories regarding the nature of global strategy and the interaction between businesses and their political environment. Specifically, we argue that the international relations perspectives of realism, liberalism, and constructivism help explain the nature of the disruptions, and hence can inform strategy scholarship in explaining and examining strategic responses to such external disruptions. Managerial Summary: Firms establish subsidiaries abroad in order to exploit the opportunities of globalization to the benefit of their shareholders and other stakeholders. However, the global economy has recently entered a period of disruptions that include reduced people mobility, divergent national regulatory institutions, and increased anti-globalization populism. We argue that these disruptions will not only create new operational challenges for global strategies and new needs for local adaptation but may even challenge the legitimacy of global business models. We turn to political science for explanations and find that three paradigms of international relations offer contrarian predictions not only on the big disruptions but also on the ability of MNEs to influence political processes driving the disruptions.
Link(s) to publication:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gsj.1436
-
Meyer, K. E.; Prashantham, S.; Xu, S., 2021, "Entrepreneurship and the Post-COVID-19 Recovery in Emerging Economies", Management and Organization Review, September 17(5): 1101 - 1118.
Abstract: Entrepreneurs play a focal role in a society's economic recovery from major disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that entrepreneurs’ ability to identify and act on entrepreneurial opportunities during the crisis reflects their resilience, and their innovations facilitate new patterns of work, learning, and leisure activities in post-COVID-19 societies. However, how, how quickly they act, and how influential their actions are depends on their context in terms of institutions, resource access, and market volatility. In China, some entrepreneurs have shown great resilience by utilizing network relationships and digital technology, not only to overcome short-term disruptions in 2020 but to shape the evolving ‘new normal’ where behaviors and capabilities have changed as a consequence of the experience of the pandemic. We discuss drivers of such resilient entrepreneurship during the COVID-19 pandemic in China and call for further research on the interplay between external disruptions, different types of entrepreneurship, and the consequences for resilience in emerging economies.
Link(s) to publication:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/management-and-organization-review/article/entrepreneurship-and-the-postcovid19-recovery-in-emerging-economies/17FE4F293DEF9C6864DB5ABB213C2E5B#article
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/mor.2021.49
-
Li, Y.; Cui, L.; Meyer, K. E.; Fan, D., 2021, "Strategic Configurations and International Performance of Emerging Economy Multinationals", Management and Organization Review
-
Meyer, K. E., 2021, "A COVID-19 vaccine plant in Africa? This is what it would take to build one", The Conversation
-
Tan, D.; Meyer, K. E., 2021, "Context-bridging and Context-embedded Experience: Growth Drivers of Emerging Economy Business Groups", Asia Pacific Journal of Management, June 38: 401 - 434.
Abstract: This study examines emerging economy business groups’ growth directions during institutional change. Building on Penrose’s Theory of Growth of the Firm, we explore managerial resources as foundations for growth. Specifically, we argue that their growth directions are critically shaped by the nature of managerial experience of business groups. Experience that is context-embedded supports growth within the existing strategic paradigm, whereas context-bridging experience enables international growth. We test hypotheses derived from this theoretical argument for business groups in Taiwan, and find empirical support for our arguments.
Link(s) to publication:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10490-019-09658-0
-
Schotter, A.; Wood, G.; Meyer, K. E., 2021, "Organizational and comparative institutionalism in international HRM: Toward an integrative research agenda", Human Resource Management, February 60(1)
Abstract: Over the past two decades, a growing body of research on human resource management (HRM) has analyzed the relationship between international HRM and institutions. This work has primarily been informed by two leading streams of theory—organizational institutionalism and comparative institutionalism. However, these two dominant streams have seen much juxtaposition, but little logical integration. Moreover, scholars have paid little attention to the dynamics of contextualization (more specifically, institutional development and evolution), which limits the relevance of extant research. In this article, we review the extant literatures and their intellectual origins and develop an integrative research agenda that emphasizes the multilevel nature of HRM and evolution under external institutional change.
Link(s) to publication:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hrm.22053
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22053
-
Côté, C.; Estrin, S.; Meyer, K. E.; Shapiro, D., 2020, "COVID-19 and the Dynamics of Distance in International Business", AIB Insights, December 20(3)
Abstract: Distance is a central concept in the teaching of international business (IB). However, most textbooks treat distance as static or slowly changing. We argue that distance is inherently a dynamic construct, as highlighted by the impact of COVID-19 on international business activities. Using the popular CAGE framework as a baseline, we illustrate the implications of distance being dynamic by introducing likely effects of COVID-19 on distance, and by discussing in depth barriers to the movement of people as an important aspect of distance. We conclude with implications for the application of distance in corporate decision making and international business teaching.
Link(s) to publication:
https://insights.aib.world/article/18080-covid-19-and-the-dynamics-of-distance-in-international-business
http://dx.doi.org/10.46697/001c.18080
-
He, X.; Lin, C.; Meyer, K. E., 2020, "How state and market logics influence firm strategy from within and outside? Evidence from Chinese financial intermediary firms", Asia Pacific Journal of Management
Abstract: We study how state and market logics, which operate both internal and external to the firm, jointly influence firm strategy. In the context of the Chinese financial intermediary industry, we argue that the level of state ownership in a firm has an inverted U-shaped relationship with the firm’s financial portfolio diversification. This is because firms prioritize financial investment options that serve the dominant logic. As a result, their financial portfolios are more diversified when the multiple logics are balanced than when either logic dominates. This relationship is attenuated by the prevalence of market logic in the regional institutional environment and amplified by industry regulation aimed at correcting market failure. We test these arguments using panel data of Chinese trust companies during a period of de-regulation and re-regulation and find empirical support for the moderated curvilinear effect of state ownership. Our findings demonstrate the relevance of the institutional logics to analyzing firms in contemporary China and highlight how institutional logics at multiple levels jointly shape corporate strategy.
Link(s) to publication:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10490-020-09739-5
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10490-020-09739-5
-
Meyer, K. E.; Rungsithong, R., 2020, "Trust and knowledge sharing in an emerging economy: International buyer-supplier relationships in Thailand", Industrial Marketing Management, July 88: 112 - 124.
Abstract: How does trust facilitate knowledge sharing between business partners in an emerging market? We advance the relational view of knowledge sharing by theoretically developing and empirically testing moderators of the impact of trust on knowledge sharing between MNE subsidiaries and their local suppliers. Distinguishing inter-organizational and inter-personal trust, we argue that the positive relationship between inter-organizational trust and knowledge sharing is moderated by characteristics of the transaction, while the positive impact of inter-personal trust is moderated by the organizational context in which the relationship is embedded. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 156 buyer-supplier relationships between MNE subsidiaries and local suppliers in Thai manufacturing, and find empirical support for our theoretical arguments. We conclude with managerial implications on how to facilitate knowledge sharing in an emerging market.
Link(s) to publication:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019850119301919
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.04.026
-
Yang, W.; Meyer, K. E., 2020, "How do local and foreign firms compete? Competitive actions in an emerging economy", International Business Review, June 29(3)
Abstract: When foreign and local firms compete, they face competitors acting quite differently from themselves. Specifically, their ability to engage in timely and frequent actions is influenced by, respectively, the Liability of Foreignness (LoF) and the Liability of Localness (LoL). We explore how the trade-off between LoF and LoL influences the aggressiveness of competitive actions firms take in emerging markets. Specifically, we argue that LoF results in weaker government ties that inhibit the aggressiveness of competitive actions of multinational subsidiaries, while LoL results in weaker technological capabilities that inhibit competitive aggressiveness of domestic firms. We apply structural equation modelling on Chinese survey data to test hypotheses derived from these arguments and find empirical support. Our results shed new light on competitive dynamics in an emerging economy.
Link(s) to publication:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2020.101689
-
Sarabi, A.; Froese, F.; Chng, D.; Meyer, K. E., 2020, "Entrepreneurial leadership and MNE subsidiary performance: The moderating role of subsidiary context", International Business Review, June 29(3)
Abstract: Managers of international subsidiaries, especially subsidiary CEOs, operate at critical interfaces within multinational enterprises (MNEs) and hold strategic responsibility for the operations in their country. Yet, their impact on subsidiary performance has received scant research attention. Building on the subsidiary entrepreneurship and strategic leadership literatures, we develop a model of how subsidiary CEOs’ entrepreneurial leadership affects subsidiary performance, and how this relationship is moderated by the subsidiary context that determines managerial discretion. We combine survey data of 291 international subsidiaries in South Korea with archival data to test our hypotheses. Our results show that subsidiary CEOs’ entrepreneurial leadership enhances subsidiary performance and that this relationship is strengthened by managerial discretion. Our study highlights the pivotal role of subsidiary CEOs within MNEs and contributes to a microfoundational understanding of international subsidiary management.
Link(s) to publication:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2020.101672
-
Meyer, K. E.; Li, C.; Schotter, A., 2020, "Managing the MNE subsidiary: Advancing a multi-level and dynamic research agenda", JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES, June 51(4): 538 - 576.
Abstract: Multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries abroad are important organizations in their own right. They typically hold some of the MNE's most critical resources, and operate at the forefront of complex international environments. In this review, we identify and organize theoretical and empirical research on subsidiary management based on over 600 articles in leading academic journals. We develop a conceptual framework that integrates complementary streams of theoretical and empirical research with the subsidiary as its focal unit of analysis. In particular, we review six lines of research on subsidiary scope, practices, knowledge management, engagement with local market and nonmarket actors, performance, and individuals within subsidiaries. We highlight theoretical perspectives that have contributed to, and been advanced by, research on MNE subsidiaries. Based on the review, we explore future research agendas, linking the contemporary research themes with two main thrusts. First, subsidiary management is a multi-level phenomenon that would benefit from more microfoundational research. Second, subsidiary management operates at key interfaces of technology paradigm shifts, and of disruptions in the political and institutional environment. Research into the dynamics of subsidiary management would, thus, enhance our understanding of international business in a volatile global economy.
Link(s) to publication:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41267-020-00318-w
-
Liu, Y.; Meyer, K. E., 2020, "Boundary spanners, HRM practices, and reverse knowledge transfer: The case of Chinese cross-border acquisitions", Journal of World Business, February 55(2)
Abstract: This paper investigates the role of boundary spanners in reverse knowledge transfer in EMNEs’ cross-border acquisitions. Applying a micro-foundational approach and building on boundary spanning as theoretical perspective, we conducted case studies of acquisitions by Chinese companies in Germany and the UK. We find reverse knowledge transfer is a collective endeavour that relies on both the ability and motivation of individual boundary spanners as well as team-based international collaborations. We propose a conceptual framework of reverse knowledge transfer with two mechanisms—enabling and materializing. Their successful implementation depends not only on the personal characteristics of boundary spanners, but on supportive HRM practices.
Link(s) to publication:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2018.07.007
For more publications please see our Research Database
