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The advancement of globalization has encouraged an increasing number of enterprises to go abroad and take cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to expand their overseas market and improve core competitiveness, although many acquirers fail to gain value from post-acquisition integration. On the basis of organizational learning theory, this paper explores the effect of executives’ foreign experience on cross-border M&A sustainability, and examines how the externally acquired knowledge can be effectively applied to cross-border M&A practice. Taking a sample of Chinese listed companies that have completed cross-border M&As during 2008–2016, our research proposes an integrated framework of foreign experiential knowledge, and discusses the process of acquisition and application of this experiential knowledge into cross-border M&As. Empirical research findings show that, compared with the general foreign experience, the specific foreign experience based on target country significantly improves cross-border M&A sustainability, and executives with host-specific work experience plays a more important role than that of education experience. Further research found that long-tenured executives positively moderate the effect of foreign experiential knowledge on cross-border M&A sustainability, while the pay gap for executives, which hampers internal coherence, plays a negative moderating role. This research provides a new insight into the promotion of the sustainable development of enterprise cross-border M&A in the globalization age.

With the global consensus on the need for sustainability practices, green governance has attracted increasing attention from international business (IB) scholars and multinational enterprise (MNE) managers. In this study, we propose a more fine-grained framework of the green governance context along two dimensions: foreign direct investment (FDI) policy and environmental regulation. Then, we examine the framework using cluster analysis. On the basis of a multiple-case study comprising 11 Chinese MNEs in pollution-intensive industries operating in four different green governance contexts, we conclude that (1) the green governance context is a significant factor in MNEs’ global location choices and is an important driving force behind MNEs’ response patterns; (2) environmental capabilities enable MNEs to surmount a host country’s environmental entry barrier and facilitate wider global business deployment; (3) technological capabilities increase MNEs’ competitive edge and allow them to better harness a host country’s growth opportunities; (4) there are four types of green governance response patterns, and the details of the proposed classification structure and its validation are presented; and (5) both strict environmental regulation and friendly FDI policy can positively influence MNEs’ adoption of more active response patterns, and greater availability of environmental and technological capabilities does not affect MNEs’ environmental commitment. This study contributes to the international strategy-capability-environment alignment of emerging economies’ multinational enterprises (EMNEs) in different green governance contexts.

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Applying the lens of entrepreneurial psychology, this paper examines vicarious learning as an approach that entrepreneurs can use to overcome external uncertainty of overseas investments by accumulating international know-how and experience through interlocking director connections with other experienced companies. Through the analysis of a sample of Chinese companies, our findings suggest that entrepreneurs obtaining foreign experience from interlocking partners can significantly promote their firm's international growth when investing in the same country, and that this positive effect is significant in relation to both first-degree and second-degree connections. We further find that, if an entrepreneur makes a connection with an interlocking partner in the same industry, it enhances their knowledge absorption, thereby providing a positive moderating effect, while investing in a country with a strong degree of openness weakens the effect of knowledge application, and thus plays a negative moderating role. This study makes practical and theoretical contributions by exploring specific vicarious learning means for entrepreneurs to enhance their firm's international competitiveness, and also identifying three different learning processes.

PurposeEnvironmental regulation is in a continuous state of intense change and modification amid the long-term tensions between environmental protection and economic growth. In this article, the authors creatively investigate how fluctuations of environmental regulation influence a nation's economic growth while also examining the mediating effect of technological innovation.Design/methodology/approachUsing sample data of 36 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries from 2013 to 2018, environmental regulation is differentiated in two aspects of formal environmental regulation (FER) and informal environmental regulation (IER) and analyzed to assess the effects of regulatory fluctuations on investment and technological innovation.FindingsThe research results demonstrate that both FER fluctuation and IER fluctuation exert a significant negative impact on economic growth. These two fluctuations in environmental regulation increase uncertainty and unpredictable risks for corporations and investors, significantly stifling the willingness to contribute to innovation activities and leading to a diminished level of innovation. Technological innovation is revealed to have a mediating influence on the relationship of environmental regulation fluctuation to economic growth.Originality/valueThese findings enrich the research on the impact of environmental regulation from a dynamic, multinational perspective, contributing to the literature by exploring the relationships between environmental regulation fluctuation, technological innovation and economic growth at the OECD-country level.

PurposeMicrofoundations have become an effective approach for capability scholars to explore the heterogeneity of organizational results. Since the early pioneering work of scholars such as Felin and Foss, the microfoundations of strategic organization had not been extensively studied until 2010. The theoretical and empirical literature associated with the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities has developed rapidly. However, the diversity and fragmentation of micro-elements lead to a lack of a relatively consistent understanding of microfoundations, the study purpose is to aggregate the associated scattered terminology into a cohesive discussion.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review was conducted on research papers published between 2000 and 2022 using a hybrid methodology that included bibliometric and content analysis.FindingsThe authors suggest that this line of research can be divided into three stages. The study further develop a framework delineating the main components and mechanism involved in the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities, which in turn help us distill research gaps and opportunities for future work.Originality/valueThe authors construct a framework that can serve as a coherent research platform for further knowledge development. In the framework, the authors highlight that the research of group constructs, culture and leadership, data-driven topics are valuable for our understanding of the microfoundations of dynamics capabilities.