Though International Joint Ventures (IJVs) are widespread, their high failure rate, attributed to the difficulty of managing them, has increased interest in their management. IJV research has seen knowledge sharing and learning between partners to be essential for success, and has noted that this is easier when the international partners are culturally aligned with one another. The process of integrating knowledge across national boundaries and between people from dissimilar cultures is a challenge, because it requires the firms to be embedded into the local market. IJVs need to ensure appropriate approaches for acquiring the knowledge and learning they require. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the knowledge sharing and learning processes that IJV managers undertake, focusing on the “micro-level” of IJV manager action and interaction. It explores how managers of the partners and of IJVs overcome barriers to knowledge sharing. This research combines internationalisation process, knowledge sharing and organisational learning research to develop an overarching theoretical framework for IJV learning that positions the IJV managers’ roles within the learning process within IJVs. It then examines theoretical ideas concerning the ‘microfoundations’ of learning to consider the structural arrangements, the individual capabilities and the organisational processes of the IJV that might help IJV managers to learn from their partners, to develop capacity within their IJV, and to help the internationalisation of their partners. This study explores knowledge sharing and learning within the highly successful Samsung-Tesco Homeplus retail IJV formed in 1999 in South Korea as part of Tesco’s internationalisation process. The retail context is appropriate to study the concepts of IJV learning, because retail businesses need to be highly embedded in their market through strong ties with their local customer base, which increases the need for internationalising retail firms to gain knowledge and learning from local IJV partners. The case partner firms, having complementary resource bases but facing barriers of dissimilarity (Korean electronics manufacturer and UK retail firm), yielded a rich context for examining how these were overcome to achieve learning. Data from semi-structured interviews with top and middle level managers and industry experts were triangulated with multiple sources of secondary data. A microanalysis approach for data analysis enabled analytical abstraction to theory. The study draws three broad findings regarding the overarching theoretical framework for IJV learning. First, IJV partners can themselves develop strategies that help knowledge sharing that will enhance the prospects for IJV success. The IJV partner’s prior capabilities are critical for building and sustaining their IJV relationship prior to and during the IJV. These capabilities facilitate cross-fertilization, integration, and combination of new knowledge and learning between the partner’s prior bodies of knowledge, helping knowledge application to be focused on the IJV’s needs. This, in turn, helps an absorptive capacity building process to be generated within the IJV itself.

The research stream on interpartner learning in international strategic alliances has evolved in recent years. Although several research problems have been addressed, there remain gaps in the literature about the facilitators and outcomes of knowledge acquisition in international joint ventures. To bridge these gaps, this research has two main objectives. Firstly, it identifies various antecedents and tests their effects on the acquisition of marketing know-how by the local partner from the foreign partner. Secondly, it investigates how the acquired marketing know-how impacts on the learning outcomes in an IJV.The findings of this study show the effects of eight antecedents on the acquisition of tacit and explicit forms of marketing know-how. Research gaps have been bridged by this study in several ways. The thesis has also answered the call for empirical studies to provide statistical evidence with respect to inter-organizational learning in the international arena. It contributes new measurement scales as well as suggests effective ways of acquiring marketing knowledge from foreign partners in IJV. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This article examines announcement effects of 240 international joint ventures (IJVs) undertaken by US firms to ascertain their impact on shareholders' wealth. The objective is to ascertain whether the mixed results of announcement effects reported in the literature can be explained. Theory suggests that IJVs would result in differential stock price reactions due to firm-specific characteristics. Therefore, it is hypothesized that IJVs would elicit a positive stock price reaction, on average. Also, it is hypothesized that this reaction should be greater for high Tobin's q firms and for low free cash flow firms. Empirical analysis reveals that firm-specific characteristics do influence announcement effects and suggests that these factors may explain the mixed announcement effects documented in the literature.

No / International Joint Ventures (IJVs) have become one of the most important ways for companies to expand their activities and exploit business opportunities abroad. In China, for example, which has become the world's largest recipient of Foreign Direct Investment, IJVs with local companies are the most important way of doing business. However, many companies have learnt that the performance of their joint ventures in China does not meet their expectations. This study focuses on functional diversity - differences in business practices between foreign and local companies - and its influence on IJV performance. We investigate the influence of this functional diversity on the performance of IJVs and discuss how companies can moderate this influence through adaptation, trust, commitment and communication. Hypotheses are formulated and empirically tested using data gathered through a questionnaire survey of managers of German-Chinese IJVs. The results show that although functional diversity has a negative impact on IJV performance, managers can influence the magnitude of this impact. We use insights from interviews with managers of German-Chinese IJVs in China to supplement our discussion and provide some indication of best practice.

Yes / The “50/50”, or the shared management international joint venture (shared IJV) remains a popular and yet challenging control structure to govern IJVs. The purpose of this study is to understand the post-formation management of shared IJVs, specifically the relationship between shared structure, relational conditions and management of post-formation challenges. Our evidence is based on 26 in-depth interviews across four cases of shared IJVs between British multinationals and Asian companies. Our findings indicate that the highly integrative nature of shared IJVs, including high operational interdependence and shared decision-making, encourages partners to work closely together, communicate frequently and intensely and exchange personnel. Although share management can lead to inter-partner conflicts, the equal investment and mutual responsibility partly provides partners with motivation and opportunities to learn about each other, to better implement the control structure, to build trust, and to commit to the venture and partner. These relational conditions facilitated the successful management of post-formation challenges such as diversity related conflicts and macro volatility.

There have been many megaprojects done by project-based international joint ventures ( PBIJVs ) in Asia with Western expatriate project managers leading the way. However, the management style expected at a local level in Asia on construction projects is unique, and for many observers appeared to be unstructured, un-systemized and autocratic. Moreover, the varying strains of Chinese-based ethics and beliefs, including networking, trust, face and avoidance of confrontation heavily influenced management practices. This research investigated how a PBIJV should approach a complex construction megaproject in Asia and how experienced Western expatriate project managers actually managed and lead these projects to achieve overall project success. The aim of this research was to propose a framework for Western expatriate project managers to be used as a guide in the project management of PBIJVs in complex construction megaprojects in Asia, with East-West multi-cultural dispersed project teams, in a holistic way with a clear focus on good e-teaming communication and flexibility of project manager thought so that the multi-cultural teams can work more effectively and efficiently, better enabling project success. The thesis begins with an extensive review of published literature related to construction, Asia, culture, total quality management ( TQM ), IJVs, project management and megaprojects. A conceptual framework of work practices and styles required of Western expatriate project managers in the management of PBIJVs in construction on complex megaprojects in Asia, with East-West multi-cultural dispersed project teams, was established from this literature review. This conceptual framework was explored and developed based upon questionnaire responses and interviews with Western project managers with related and extensive work experience in Asia. This research followed a qualitative strategy for the research design and methodology, and adopted a multiple-case study approach. This research followed a combination of questionnaires and an exploratory semi-structured face to face interview approach with manual data analysis. The first stage of the research process involved screening interviews of the short-listed project managers, which comprised of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with an interview guide. The second stage studied three selected cases and comprised of the second stage interviews, direct observations and documentation as the main methods of data collection. The third stage involved the validation of the intermediate framework developed from the multiple-case study conducted during the second stage via a questionnaire with nine people comprising of the project managers of the selected case study projects, screening process project managers and other selected construction industry experts all with extensive working experience in Korea. The findings of this research were presented in the form of a final framework to assist in improving project manager performance and skills on complex PBIJV construction megaprojects in Asia and it was concluded that such a framework would be of benefit to Western project managers as a guideline to manage construction megaprojects in Asia in a more effective and efficient way with the ultimate goal of achieving project success.

As German organisations expand their businesses into China, the potential risks associated with a lack of fit in management styles among International Joint Venture (IJV) partner-firms have become increasingly obvious to academic researchers, human resource professionals and partner-firm managers themselves. The general consensus among researchers and practitioners is that cultural differences in management styles are a major deterrent to the success of IJVs. Limited research has been undertaken to specifically examine and identify how partner-firm managers can overcome this barrier in Sino-German IJVs.

La recherche sur la coopération internationale inter-firmes a pris son envol en 1988 lors de la publication d’un numéro spécial de Management International Review, et de deux articles théoriques populaires de Kogut (1988) et Hennart (1988) dans Strategic Management Journal. Plusieurs numéros spéciaux ont été par la suite consacrés à ce sujet dans les revuesréputées en sciences de gestion (par exemple : Management International Review, 1990 ; Academy of Management Journal, 1996 ; Journal of International Business Studies, 1996).Depuis lors, les managers appréciant la coopération inter-firmes dans les opérations d’investissement à l’étranger, la recherche sur la coentreprise ou Joint-venture Internationale (JVI) continue à s’approfondir. Notre recherche doctorale porte sur le courant récent et prometteur de la survie-interruption des JVI. Nous cherchons à étudier l’impact des expériences passées du partenaire sur la survie de la JVI dans le contexte d’un pays émergent, le Vietnam. Sur la base de la théorie del’apprentissage organisationnel, nous développons un cadre conceptuel de l’apprentissage d’expériences du partenaire. Ensuite, nous proposons un modèle et dix-huit hypothèses de recherche liées aux retours positifs des différents types d’expériences globales, spécifiques et vicariantes du partenaire sur la survie-interruption de la JVI. Les résultats de notre étude empirique sur la population des 2378 JVI au Vietnam nous permettent de constater le rôle indéniable des expériences sur la survie-interruption de la JVI du double point de vue du partenaire étranger et du partenaire local.A partir de modèles de survie de Cox estimés dans cette recherche, nous constatons que ce ne sont pas les expériences globales, mais les expériences spécifiques du partenaire qui influencent directement la survie de la JVI. Il s’agit des expériences du même mode d’entrée, du même type de répartition du capital, dans le même secteur d’activité, avec le même partenaire ou des liens répétés entre les partenaires et les expériences vicariantes du partenaire. Ainsi, la performance d’expériences passées liées aux anciens investissements (en activité ou interrompus) a des impacts sur la longévité de la JVI.Cependant, l’orientation (positive ou négative) des impacts se différencie en fonction de la nature d’expériences accumulées et du point de vue du partenaire étranger ou local. Nous constatons que les expériences du partenaire local sont plus bénéfiques : à l’exception de celles d’interruption dans le passé, la plupart contribuent à la longévité de la JVI. La JVI profite également des expériences du même mode du partenaire étranger, et notamment des liens répétés entre les partenaires. Contre nos attentes, les expériences du même type du partenaire étranger n’ont pas d’impact, et celles du même secteur sont très défavorables à la survie de la JVI. / Our doctoral research focuses on the survival of international Joint venture (JVI). We analyze the impact of partner’s past experiences on the survival of JVI in the context of an emerging country of Vietnam. Based on the theory of organizational learning, we develop a conceptual framework for the partner’s experiential learning. Then, we propose a research model and eighteen hypotheses related to positive feedback from various types of partner’s global, specific and vicarious experiences on the survival of JVI. The results of our empirical study on the population of 2378 JVI in Vietnam confirm the important role of foreign and local partner’s experiences on the survival of the JVI. According to Cox survival models, we find that it is not the partner’s global experiences, but the specific experiences influencing directly the survival of the JVI. These are their experiences in the same entry mode, the same type of capital allocation, in the same industry, with the same partner or repeated links between partners and vicarious experiences. The performance of partner’s experiences related to older investments (actually in activity or terminated) has also an impact on the longevity of the JVI.However, the direction (positive or negative) of these impacts differs depending on the nature of experiences and from the point of view of the foreign or local partner. We find that the local partner’s experiences are more beneficial than those of foreign partner: excepting of termination experiences, all of local partner’s experiences contribute to the longevity of theJVI. The JVI is also benefiting from experiences in the same entry mode of foreign partners, particularly repeated links between partners. Against our expectations, foreign partner’s experiences in the same type and in the same industry of JVI are unfavorable to the survival of the JVI.

The aim of this paper is to explore what factors affect the survival of international joint ventures involving Chinese family business. The results show that “Wulun” ， “ Guanxi -based trust”, and communication as the main factors, control, and “Mianzi” could influence on the survival of IJV. Among them, “Wulun,” “Guanxi-based trust,” and “Mianzi” derived from Confucian culture.

International joint ventures (IJVs), as organisational entities which are formed and controlled by local and foreign firms, are one of the most significant ways of expansion of international firms. IJVs have complex characteristics and the management of IJVs faces many problems. Due to these problems, IJV performance has attracted significant research attention – eventually any strategy has to be evaluated in terms of its success. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that affect inter-organisational trust and as a result, the performance of IJVs in Iran, a developing country, which is in the early stages of the development of IJVs. According to Abosag and Lee (2012), there are few studies that concentrate on IJVs in developing and Middle Eastern countries and more studies on these areas are required. This empirical study is preceded by a systematic review of the relevant literature that led to the development of a conceptual model. The data were collected from a sample of managers in the industry sector of IJVs in Iran with their Asian partners by using a survey questionnaire, and analysed using the statistical package for social sciences, SPSS V.18. The results from this study show that inter-partner fit factors and relational factors have a strong and positive impact on the level of trust; however, fairness was not found to be positive and significantly related to trust. Religion and country risk were found to have a negative and significant relationship with trust. Moreover, a strong and positive relationship between trust and performance features (satisfaction, goal achievement and learning) and between commitment and performance features (satisfaction, goal achievement and learning) were found. This research provides empirical evidence for inter-organisational trust predictor variables for performance. A key contribution of this research is that it offers a robust framework that explains the antecedents of trust and demonstrates that trust has a definite positive impact on the performance of IJVs. The proposed framework is evaluated and tested against the original criteria of trust in IJVs, exactness and executability. Moreover, this study provides a novel contribution to the growing literature on trust in IJVs, particularly for developing countries such as Iran and the Middle East countries. The results of this research provide us with a meaningful managerial implication for the selection of competitors as IJV partners.