2018 COB Faculty Publications
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Item What’s in a name? Cross-national distances and subsidiary’s corporate visual identity change in emerging-market firms’ cross-border acquisitions(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2018) Liou, Ru-Shiun; Rao-Nicholson, Rekha; Sarpong, DavidPurpose – Addressing the unique challenge facing emerging-market firms (EMFs) of branding and marketing in their foreign subsidiaries, this study evaluates the foreign subsidiary corporate visual identity (CVI) transitions during the post-acquisition period. Design/Methodology/approach – Data on 330 cross-border acquisitions from five emerging-markets, namely, Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa (BRICS) are used. The cross-sectional multivariate analyses are used to test the hypotheses. Findings – Utilizing a sample of worldwide acquisitions conducted by EMFs originated from BRICS, this study establishes that various cross-national distances do not consistently cause the targets to take on the parent’s CVI. While economic distance and formal institutional distance increases the likelihood of an acquired subsidiary’s CVI change, cultural distance decreases the likelihood of CVI change. Practical implications – Lacking international experience and shaped by national differences between the host and home markets, EMFs often grant foreign subsidiaries substantial autonomy to respond to diverse stakeholder demands in subsidiary branding. Contrary to extant literature, the findings show that some distances are more pertinent to CVI transformation in the subsidiaries than others in the context of the EMFs. Originality/value – This research shows that the formal institutional distance and economic distance, will increase the likelihood of CVI changes in the subsidiaries, whereas, the cultural distance requiring soft skills like the cultural adaptability from the EMFs will decrease the CVI change possibility. The findings presented in the paper have significant implications for future research and strategic application.Item How Do Small Firms Compete? A Demand-Based Perspective(North American Business Press, 2018) Xie, ChuanyinSmall firms are disadvantaged when competing with large firms. Conventional wisdom suggests small firms should target niche markets neglected by large firms, but most large firms have used a niche strategy for some of their products, suggesting small niches are not safe anymore. This study attempts to address a key challenge small firms face: how to survive competition with few advantages. My main argument is that small firms should shift attention from the supplier-side competition to value creation in the demand environment. If consumer value is created, competition is likely rendered irrelevant.