One of the fundamental research questions about leadership in teams revolves around whether to organize activities on the basis of capabilities (Balkundi and Harrison, 2006) or behaviors (Pearce and Sims, 2002). Despite a growing body of theoretical work by scholars from each of these traditions, there is still limited empirical research about how behaviors and capacities of leadership interact to explain performance in teams. Research on teams and leadership is a relatively well defined field of study in the West, but still incipient in non-Western countries, particularly in China (e.g. Tjosvold, Law, and Sun, 2006; Tsui, Wang, Xin, Zhang, and Fu, 2004; Tsui, Zhang, Wang, Xin, Wu, 2006). Notwithstanding, since teams are recognizably important work units in Chinese organizations (Chuah and Law, 2006; Law and Chuah, 2004), whether these are Western invested firms (Chen and Barshes, 2000) or state-owned enterprises (Tjosvold, Law, and Sun, 2003), it is important to learn more about leadership and teams in China. This study examines multilevel relationships among individual social capital, human capital, team leadership behaviors, and performance. Data from 350 individuals and 69 teams were gathered in two organizations in China, and analyzed with hierarchical linear modeling. The findings provide strong evidence that individual social capital, human capital, and team leadership behaviors do matter for individual performance. Additionally, the results suggest the existence of team paradoxes: individual social capital is related to individual performance, but this effect is reversed as team average social capital increases; human capital and team tenure have opposite effects on individual performance; and, team diversity has contrary effects on social capital and human capital. This study is one of the first to demonstrate the integration of two theoretical traditions on team leadership using multiple levels of analysis. The team paradoxes suggest that there is no 'ideal formula' to manage team leadership, thus managers must learn how to cope with it in systemic and adaptive ways. Furthermore, the results of this study also reveal that a deeper understanding of team leadership requires, for example, disaggregation of social capital, examination of team processes, and reconceptualization of team leadership behaviors.

The management of employee ideas is becoming increasingly important to organizations around the world. Because they are the ones doing the work, employees have a great many ideas to save time, energy, and money, reduce or eliminate non-value adding activity, reduce environmental impact, or improve their organizations in some other ways. The management of employee ideas has been widely studied in developed countries, and while research into this topic in Thailand and other developing nations is still scant, academic researchers and business practitioners agree that the good management of employee ideas and creativity in such countries will produce benefits akin to those experienced in developed nations. This study aimed to identify the factors that lead to the success of idea management initiatives in Thailand and the challenges that can undermine them. It also investigated the effects of Thai cultural values, norms, and personal characteristics, and the impacts of green initiatives in Thailand on employee ideas and creativity. Eleven Thai organizations were studied, using interviews, direct observations, and archival data. In addition, a small quantitative survey was administrated in all the companies and in a local MBA class. Data analyses identified nine factors that lead to success in managing employee ideas and creativity in Thailand. Three factors stand out as the key differentiators: dedicated resources, reward and recognition schemes, and consultancy utilization. The six Thai cultural values identified from literature and this study were seniority, face-concern, low self-discipline, easy-going style, low selflearning, and confrontation-avoidance. They proved to significantly affect the management of employee ideas and creativity, mostly in negative ways, but occasionally positively. Finally, the analysis of the data on green initiatives in Thailand confirms that they improve a company’s performance: they help it cut costs, comply with laws and regulations, and enhance its public image. A holistic view of the data and subsequent analyses suggest that green initiatives also improve both innovation and continuous improvement performance. The factors leading to successful green initiatives include a company’s leadership and support of government and business associations, while challenges often come from front-line employees who are affected by the changes.

My dissertation explores the overarching question: how do firms respond to climate change? Chapter 1 is entitled “Climate Change Exposure and Firm’s Adaptation Strategies”. In this chapter, I build a novel dataset that compiles information on the adaptation strategies of publicly traded companies globally and merge it with climate science data. Using these data, I examine whether, how, and under which conditions firms adapt to physical climate change exposures. I find that most firms don’t adapt to different climate change exposures. Firms take a targeted approach to adaptation – responding more to those aspects of climate exposures that are likely to affect them directly. Also, I show that firms with better ESG ratings are more responsive to varying climate exposures. I then report evidence that perception and capabilities may provide the mechanisms for different adaptation rates and strategies. The 2nd chapter, titled “Assessing the Climate Change Exposure of Foreign Direct Investment" (published in Nature Communications in 2022 and coauthored with Kevin Gallagher) explores the climate change exposure of foreign direct investments. Despite the increasing impact of physical climate risks on firms and facilities globally, little is known about how multinational companies incorporate such risks into their overseas investment decisions. This chapter examines the climate change exposures of multinational companies’ overseas investments. Globally, foreign investments are significantly exposed to lower physical climate risks, compared with local firms across countries. Within countries, however, the differences of physical climate risks between foreign and local facilities are small. We also examine China, as it is rapidly becoming one of the largest sources of outward foreign investment across the globe. We find that foreign investment from China is significantly more exposed to water stress, floods, hurricanes, and typhoon risks across countries, compared with other foreign facilities. Within host countries, however, the physical climate risks of Chinese overseas facilities are comparable to those of non-Chinese foreign investments. Chapter 3 is titled “Competing or Complementary Labels? Estimating Spillovers in Chinese Green Building Certification” (published in the Strategic Management Journal, 2021). I and Tim Simcoe examine the spillovers in the adoption of “competing” green building certifications, one important climate change mitigation strategy. In this chapter, we argue that there can be positive spillovers in the adoption of “competing” certifications and propose a framework for understanding how such spillovers arise through three channels: suppliers, adopters, and users of various labels. Our empirical analysis demonstrates these effects in the context of Chinese green-building certification. Specifically, we measure spillovers from adoption of the Chinese Green Building Evaluation Label (GBEL) to adoption of the alternative LEED standard within the same city. To isolate the causal impact of GBEL on LEED adoption, we use local government subsidies as an instrumental variable. We find evidence of market-level spillovers through the supplier and user channels, but little evidence of building-level scope economies.

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Joint venture formation between Russians and Westerners increased from 1,109 in 1989 to approximately 3,000 by mid-1991. Although empirical evidence indicates high failure in this area, up to this point, IJVs have been the primary organizational form used by Western firms to enter the former Soviet Union. Joint venturing is a relatively new phenomenon in Russia; however, it can be said that Americans and Russians already comment on misunderstandings, broken "promises" and incompatible goal expectations between IJV partners. This dissertation addresses these and other joint venture issues between American and Russian partners. The dissertation focuses on contemporary concerns of Russian managers regarding joint venture formation, structuring and expectations through the following questions: Why is the joint venture the preferred organizational form for the Russian manager? What are the Russian managers' joint venture goals and structural expectations? In the context of those questions, the dissertation also considers, theoretical issues regarding the applicability of Western theory to the Russian context. Three Western theories--transaction cost analysis, resource dependence model and institutional theory--are examined to determine their applicability to describe and explain the Russian managers' joint venture expectations. In general, the study questions the underlying assumptions of Western theory. In particular--transaction cost and resource dependence--are based on Western neoclassical economic models which, given the political and economic differences between American and Russian managers, create problems in their applicability to the Russian context. Institutional theory provides the least Western-oriented framework given its context-specific definitions of economic behavior and goals for both managers and organizations. In answering the questions about Russian managerial expectations, the dissertation demonstrates: (1) The need to integrate existing theory to create more sophisticated explanations of Russian managers' joint venture expectations. (2) The importance of contextualizing Western theoretical assumptions in historical and current realities of Russia. (3) The need for further theoretical developments pertaining to international joint ventures.

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