Taking social responsibilities overseas? The learning paths and performance consequences of Chinese multinationals

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been seen as an effective strategy that emerging market multinational enterprises increasingly adopt in order to cope with the liability of origin, yet much less attention has been paid to the micro-foundations of such a strategy. It remains less explored as to how CSR is leveraged by individuals—that is, expatriates. Addressing this research gap, a total of 150 valid survey responses from 38 Chinese multinationals were tested using the structural equation modeling technique. The results show that expatriates’ cross-cultural competence and engagement in CSR facilitate the learning efficiency of subsidiaries. The findings also suggest that expatriates’ effort positively mediates the relationship between CSR and performance outcomes (at both individual level and organizational level). Embracing the micro-foundations perspective in CSR research, this study offers both theoretical and practical implications for future international management research.

Environmental, Social and Governance Performance of Chinese Multinationals: A Comparison of State- and Non-State-Owned Enterprises

The purpose of this research is to empirically investigate the effect of internationalization on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-SOEs. The study employed an updated panel dataset (6238 firm-year observations) of Chinese multinationals from the period 2010–2019. The initial findings of the study reveal that Chinese multinationals perform better in terms of environmental and governance scores. It suggests that international market forces deal with enhancing ecological problems and concerns of stakeholders. However, results are insignificant when the social performance of multinationals is analyzed. On the other hand, multinational non-SOEs outperformed their counterparts in terms of environmental and governance performance. The findings of the paper are robust regarding the use of proxies of internationalization and endogeneities.

The Case for Regulating Huawei

Huawei’s growth overseas has paralleled that of China Inc ( Li and Farrell, 2020 ). Through favorable policies such as the Belt and Road Initiative, China has paved the way for Chinese multinationals to capture global markets, acquire and exploit new technologies, and have privileged access to local resources. In turn, Huawei has played an important role in the development of China Inc., its technological capabilities and global diplomatic relations. But Huawei plays by a different set of rules: it has been accused of unfair and illegal practices, and for breaking international norms. This perspective explores the need for regulatory oversight of Huawei.

What Have We Learnt of Joint Ventures in the Internationalization Process of Chinese Multinationals (MNCs)? Evidence from Central Africa

The purpose of this article is to analyze the specific role of joint ventures and other strategic alliances in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) carried out by Chinese Multinationals Corporations in Central Africa. After exploring the extent to which the use of Sino‑Western joint ventures has helped Chinese firms to improve their technical and managerial skills both in domestic and foreign markets, the focus shifts to Central African countries members of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). The result is that joint ventures have become a major vehicle for Chinese multinationals firms to channel FDI, thus supporting the hypothesis that in the region under study this strategy allows them to guarantee the supply of raw materials (oil and mining products: copper, cobalt, gold, diamond,..), as part of a “package deals” linking FDI, Chinese Aid and Trade, also known as “Angolan model”; to conquer foreign markets (for technology and manufactured goods “Made in China”) and; to a lesser extent, to acquire strategic assets (brands, technological innovation, managerial skills).The commitment of Chinese stateowned MNCs through the “package deals” appears to be the keystone of stability and sustainability of Chinese FDI in Central Africa and in the continent In conclusion, the expectation is that the flow of Chinese FDI to Central Africa, should contribute to the process of sustainable development in recipient countries, provided that adequate political and economic governance is guaranteed. A pre‑requisite is to achieve institutional change, from a rent‑seeking to a developmental behavior at the state level, the result being an enhanced capacity to promote engineering potential, through the strengthening of human capital, and to negotiate transfer of technology and know‑how, with emerging countries partners, especially BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa)