Does Domestic Demand Matter for Firms’ Exports?

Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economie

2022

The present study examines the practices that multinational companies located in a small, open and peripheral European economy (Portugal) are acting to build talent pools for expatriate assignments. The role of employee willingness (to go) is explored as a dimension influencing the existing firm staffing practices’ success. By using a Portuguese sample, the study examines whether prior findings in mature economies and consolidated multinational companies can be generalised to peripheral and less-developed international business settings. Five business contexts and 24 expatriate cases were considered to ground empirical analysis. The prevalence of internal recruitment practices, informal and closed systems and staffing criteria, and less established international mobility and staffing experience, suggest the existence of critical differences with the current best-of-breed practices. Study findings indicate that divergent willingness profiles operate as moderating factors of firm propensity to use international work to support expansion goals. A typology of business expatriate willingness profiles ( conformist expatriates, trajectory-focused expatriates and disrupted expatriates) is proposed to showcase expatriation assignments as a contemporary socioeconomic heterogenetic condition.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recruiting Business Expatriates in Portugal: The Moderating Role of Employee Willingness

Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economie

2022

“…Different authors have been presenting evidence of a negative relation between internationalization activity and domestic demand for Portugal (Bobeica, Esteves, Rua, & Staehr, 2016; Esteves, Portela, & Rua, 2018; Esteves & Rua, 2015), and a shifting behaviour from a weaker domestic market to stronger external markets, namely in the last decade, since the 2009 recession on economic activity (Esteves, Portela, & Rua, 2018). This was a recurrent element in all considered business contexts: the role played by domestic markets when defining internationalization strategies.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is particularly true given, on one hand, the opportunities, policy incentives and public discourse and, in a diffluent sense, the persistence of resource fragilities that characterize the Portuguese economic landscape (Amador & Cabral, 2014; Costa & Carvalho, 2016). Given these attributes, and being one of the hardest hit economies during 2009 economic and financial crisis (Esteves, Portela, & Rua, 2018), Portugal can currently be considered a relevant and natural context for assessing companies practices regarding foreign expansion during the last decade, and the ability and propensity to use international work to anchor expansion intents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non‐linear internationalization processes in Portugal: Evidence across retail, construction and software development industries

Regional Science Policy & Practice

2022

The rising number of Portuguese companies with international operations and growing sectoral diversification has been contributing to the recent international expansion of the Portuguese economy. It is important to introduce nuances in these recent developments, as the proportion of international firms and international expansion capabilities are still low. This article presents the results of a research project carried out between 2015 and 2018 focused on studying firm internationalization logics observable in Portugal, in three contributing sectorsretail, construction and information and communications technology (ICT) software development. The results present domestic markets as having a diffluent role, opportunistic client-or partnerfollowing being adopted as dominant expansion logics, and indicate that internationalization processes are valued for their portability and reversibility. Room exists for de-and re-internationalization, resource commitment shifts and non-linear logics, an expression of managerial attempts to leverage resource constraints and exposure to risk and market uncertainty. Sectoral diversification and the deployment of more flexible organizational modes in internationalizing companies or company groups in Portugal are suggested as relevant and feasible paths to follow, given the different modal forms currently available for most companies to expand.

Recruiting business expatriates in Portugal: a surefooted endeavor?

2022

PurposeManagerial discourses tend to portray work-related mobility practices in a positive light, presenting mobility assignments as a place of stimulus and differentiation. A conception of mobility as an opportunity, may contrast, in specific economies and business settings, with lived personal experiences. This article reports the results of a three-year study, aimed to question how multinational companies (MNCs) located in a small and developing European economy (Portugal) are building talent pools for expatriate assignments. Interaction effects, as proposed by the job demands-resources (JD-R) theory, are considered as lens to understand the interplay of company expatriate policies, willingness profiles and psychological contracts of expatriates. By using a Portuguese sample, the study examines whether prior findings in mature economies and consolidated MNCs can be generalized to less developed international business settings.Design/methodology/approachA three-year study, encompassing 24 expatriate cases observed in five multinational firms born or located in Portugal. Two techniques of empirical data collection were used: statistical sources and documental analysis and in-depth interviews. A total of 37 interviews were conducted, both in-person and remotely, of which 13 were with company managers and representatives, and 24 with expatriates (as defined and referred like this by the companies under study).FindingsHeterogeneous company policies, ranging from juvenile, functionalist to more dynamic and flow-based approaches, are presented as qualifying resources of willingness levels and psychological contracts of expatriates. Observed interaction effects between policies, willingness and psychological contracts, empirically mirrored in three profiles (conformist, protean and disrupted expatriates) suggest that incentive effects (emanating from company policies) and job demand-resource balance, factored as terms of social and economic trade, are non-linear and asymmetric, influencing firm propensity to succeed while using international work to support company expansion goals. As job resources, expatriate policies are presented as operating as pull or push factors: functionalist HR approaches seem to act as push factors generating more conformist or compelled willingness profiles.Research limitations/implicationsGeneralization of study's outcomes has limitations. Future studies are encouraged to use comparative and longitudinal research designs. Furthermore, future research should include business expatriates with entry-level positions, and increase the number of interviewees, as results can also be considered as limited by sample size.Practical implicationsIt is suggested that further strategic work is needed to present expatriation development value, formally screen and consider willingness level as selection criteria, and enlarge the pool (from internal to external) of candidates, in peripheral economic settings such as Portugal. A shift to more dynamic and job resource-dense policies are suggested as beneficial, as pathway to optimize social and economic value from expatriation assignments and work experiences.Originality/valueBy putting the interplay between macro and micro-level processes into perspective, the study provides empirical evidence on how company expatriate policies have come to promote unforeseen differentiation of employee willingness and psychological contracts at the heart of MNCs. This is particularly relevant in developing economies such as Portugal, challenging the need to build talent pools for international work assignments. Empirical data illustrating company policies interactive effects with different willingness profiles and psychological contracts of expatriates is provided.