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., 2023, "The digital multinational: Navigating the new normal in global business", Journal of International Business Studies, August 54(6): 1170 - 1174.
-
Li, C.; Ahn, J.; Bu, J.; Meyer, K. E., 2023, "The value of publishing in JIBS", Journal of International Business Studies
-
Meyer, K. E.; Li, J.; Brouthers, K. D.; Jean, R-J. B., 2023, "International business in the digital age: Global strategies in a world of national institutions", Journal of International Business Studies, June 54(4): 577 - 598.
-
Meyer, K. E.; Estrin, S., 2023, "It’s Hard to Say Goodbye: Managing Disengagement during Political Disruptions", AIB Insights, March 23(2)
Abstract: When companies experience political disruptions to their global business, such as Myanmar 2020 or Russia 2022, challenges in the host economy may be compounded by home country pressures to disengage. How can MNEs navigate such economic and ethical complexity? We suggest that MNEs facing pressures to exit should organize their decision process in three steps: First, clarify the financial implications considering the implications of disengagement for operations outside the focal country. Second, assess the ethical implications of continuing operations in the country. Third, opting to disengage, assess the merits of alternative disengagement strategies, including partial and full exit.Link(s) to publication:
http://dx.doi.org/10.46697/001c.72023
-
Andrews, D. S.; Meyer, K. E., 2023, "How much does host country matter, really?", Journal of World Business, February 58(2)
Abstract: How much does the host country matter in explaining foreign affiliate performance? Using a global sample of 34,708 foreign affiliates operating in 91 host countries, we revisit the relative importance of the host country effect as a performance determinant. Our variance decomposition results suggest that the host country effect is less salient than previously identified, often explaining a small portion of affiliate performance differences. We offer implications for future international strategy research on foreign affiliate performance, advancing an understanding of the relative importance of external and internal determinants. We direct scholarly attention to other effect classes, namely the affiliate effect.
Link(s) to publication:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2022.101413
-
Meyer, K. E.; Fang, T.; Panibratov, A. Y.; Peng, M. W.; Gaur, A., 2023, "International business under sanctions", Journal of World Business, February 58(2): 101426 - 101426.
-
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
For more publications please see our Research Database