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Research on work stress has highlighted its negative outcomes for both individuals and their employers. Overseas assignments are more stressful than domestic assignments, and their relatively high failure rates are well documented. We suggest, however, that certain types of stress can positively affect expatriate performance. Based on role theory and the distinction between hindrance and challenge stressors, we develop hypotheses regarding the influence of role ambiguity and role novelty on expatriate success. We also conceptualize and empirically investigate the moderating influence of expatriates' perceptions of organizational support and supervisor support. Our hypotheses are tested using a sample of 125 Japanese expatriate managers in Germany. We find that role ambiguity is a hindrance stressor and negatively affects job satisfaction and work adjustment, while role novelty acts as a challenge stressor and positively affects job satisfaction, task performance and work adjustment. Our findings also show that perceived organizational support attenuates the negative effects of role ambiguity on work adjustment and strengthens the positive effect of role novelty on job satisfaction. We also find that supervisor support positively moderates the positive effect of role novelty on job satisfaction and work adjustment.

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to explores the extent to which local institutional forces affect female entrepreneurial venture performance. Drawing upon a unified theoretical framework of social cognitive and institutional perspectives, the authors scrutinize the complex interplay among institutional support, entrepreneurial cognitions and entrepreneurial success. Design/methodology/approach Based on a unique sample of 202 female entrepreneurs in 30 provinces throughout Japan, this paper grounded social cognitive theory and attempted to clear the relation between women’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy and venture performance empirically by statistical analysis. Findings The findings of structural equation modeling indicate that women’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy is a strong and useful mediator of the effect of informal institutional support on venture performance. Unexpectedly, formal institutional support shows no correlation with entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Practical implications This study proposes that perceived social legitimacy may lead to increased entrepreneurial self-efficacy, thereby enhancing venture performance. This finding can clarify the institutional force pathways to foster entrepreneurial confidence. Originality/value This study contributes to the field of female entrepreneurship by examining institutional antecedents of women’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Focused on the case of Japanese female entrepreneurs, this study is unique and valuable.

Little research examines the mechanisms for the relationship between expatriate utilization and subsidiary performance. Building on the knowledge-based view of the firm, we propose a multi-stage mediation model to explain how expatriate staffing promotes subsidiary financial performance. Our results underscore that expatriate utilization has an indirect, mediated effect on subsidiary financial performance through its links with subsidiaries' knowledge creation and product performance. Adopting a moderated mediation approach, we also find that the indirect relationship between expatriate utilization and subsidiary product performance via subsidiary knowledge creation is strengthened by the context of transnational strategy as a moderating contingency.

This article empirically examines the antecedents and consequences of organizational downsizing using a sample of 67 Japanese multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiaries operating in the European manufacturing industry. To date, existing findings on the occurrence of downsizing at the subsidiary level are based on anecdotal accounts or simple descriptive surveys without any clear-cut conceptual framework that addresses factors and consequences of downsizing events. This study provides evidence that the macro-environmental (e.g. demand declines, international competition) and organizational factors (e.g. stagnant sales growth and poor profitability improvement of international competitiveness, development of stable management) were the central motivations for firms to engage in workforce reductions. Using the ordered probit and multiple regression techniques, a negative relationship was found between the adoption of downsizing by firms and perceived market and organizational performance, namely sales growth and employee motivation. This article also presents managerial implications and methodological limitations.

Purpose By drawing upon social cognitive and legitimacy perspectives, this study aims to explore the role of perceived social legitimacy as an informal institutional force that moderates the effects of female entrepreneurs’ self-efficacy and entrepreneurial tenacity on venture growth. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a data set of 308 Japanese female entrepreneurs, who are a subject of limited extant scholarly attention, to test the hypothesised relationships empirically. Findings Consistent with the unified framework, the study was able to identify that the acquisition of social legitimacy required by female entrepreneurs serves as a crucial safety net under which entrepreneurial self-efficacy and tenacity can significantly affect venture growth. Research limitations/implications The study highlights that high levels of entrepreneurial traits alone are not necessarily sufficient to guarantee women’s venture growth. In doing so, this study stimulates the development of theory on the complementary role of the social legitimacy of entrepreneurship in fueling and mobilising the female entrepreneurs’ cognitive resources as the key to venture growth in the Japanese context. Practical implications Policymakers should be dedicated to implementing more gender-specific policies designed to continually cultivate women’s cognitive attributes in tandem with the promotion of social awareness to embrace entrepreneurship as a promising career option. Originality/value The originality of this study lies in stimulating a debate on the underlying heterogeneity of female entrepreneurs in the performance outcomes of two entrepreneurial cognitive attributes. By integrating the concept of perceived social legitimacy, the study can respond to Miao et al. (2017), who sought further examination of untested boundary conditions in the cognitive characteristics-venture growth equation.