As export competition becomes more intense and export success vital for survival (Katsikeas, 1994), so the effective processing and use of information regarding the international environment becomes a critical prerequisite for gaining competitive advantage (Leonidou and Theodosiou, 2004). Symbolic use of information is one type of information use, which although relatively underexplored to date, may be the most prevalent form of information use within organisations – especially in an export setting (Beyer and Trice, 1982). Symbolic use occurs when information is used for purposes other than the ones which led to its collection (Menon and Varadarajan, 1992). Symbolic use of information has been conceptualised as a multi-dimensional construct encompassing various dimensions (Vyas and Souchon, 2003). Examples include “exporters that engage in distorting market research findings, taking conclusions out of context, disclosing only the findings that confirm an executive‟s predetermined position or consciously ignoring information” (Toften and Olsen, 2004, p. 106). Symbolic use can also legitimate decisions reached on the basis of intuition or managerial assumptions (Vyas and Souchon, 2003). Although conceptual propositions of the potential relationship between each of the symbolic use dimensions and performance exist (Vyas and Souchon 2003), no empirical research has yet been undertaken. As a result, little is known about how and why symbolic use of export information may affect export performance, and under what circumstances. Furthermore, reliable and valid measures for each one of the symbolic use dimensions are absent in the literature. The purpose of this thesis is to fill in these research gaps. In so doing, a combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods is employed. The exploratory phase takes the form of in depth interviews with export decision makers in the UK. The data collected in this exploratory phase are analysed through the use of within-case and cross-case displays as per Miles and Huberman (1994) and are used not just for hypothesis development, but also to identify potential outcomes of using information symbolically in specific ways and to create pools of items for the development of measures of symbolic use. (Continues...).

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The research project empirically assesses the influence of an under-researched aspect of social capital on the family firm’s entrepreneurial behaviors. Specifically, blending social capital, which consists of bonding social capital and bridging social capital that develops between family firms and external family stakeholders, is considered in examining the family firm’s engagement in innovation efforts. Additionally, familial tie strength and outside business ownership of external family stakeholders are argued to moderate the proposed relationship between blending social capital and family firm innovation. The surveying methods for assessing the hypothesized relationships included conducting a two-wave study with adapted, modified, and validated scales. Also, some variables were collected using the Mississippi Secretary of State, the U.S. Copyright Office, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey databases. The theoretical model is analyzed using hierarchical regression and moderated regression using IBM SPSS 28 Process Macro (Hayes, 2021), structural equation modeling with AMOS, and scale development techniques to ensure the validity and reliability of the measurement instruments. The goal is to identify potential antecedents for enhancing the innovation capabilities of family firms.

Yes / We examine how ties with multiple host-country political institutions contribute to MNE subsidiary performance in countries with weak formal institutions. We suggest that forging relationships between subsidiaries and host-country government actors, local chieftains, and religious leaders generates regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive political resources. We integrate institutional and configuration theories to argue that similarity to an ideal configuration of the three political resources contributes to MNE subsidiary performance, and that the more dysfunctional host country institutions, the greater the impact on performance. We test our hypotheses using primary and archival data from 604 MNE subsidiaries in 23 Anglophone sub-Saharan African countries and find support for our hypotheses. In our conclusion we discuss the wider theoretical, managerial, and public policy implications of our findings.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Linking the new institutionalism to entrepreneurial orientation (EO), my dissertation investigates institutional forces and entrepreneurial forces—two contradicting types of forces—as main effects and moderating effects upon practices and performance of organizations embedded in the institutional duality. The case chosen observes unique hybrid funders that this study collectively calls social investment funders (SIF), which integrate philanthropy and venture capital investment to create and implement a venture philanthropy model for a pursuit of their mission. A theoretical framework is developed to propose regulative and normative pressures from two dominant institutions governing SIFs. Original data collected from 146 organizations are scrutinized by moderated multiple regressions for two empirical studies: Study 1 for effects on SIFs’ venture philanthropy practices, and Study 2 for effects on SIFs’ social and financial performance. Multiple imputations, diagnostic analyses, and several post hoc analyses are also conducted for robustness of data and results from multiple regression analyses. Results from these analyses find that EO and venture capital institutional forces both enhance SIFs’ venture philanthropy practices. A hypothesis postulated for a negative relationship between the nonprofit status and venture philanthropy practices is also supported. Results from moderated regression analyses, along with a subgroup and EO subdimension analyses, confirm a moderating effect between EO and the nonprofit status, i.e., a regulative institutional pressure. A positive relationship is found in EO- financial performance, but not in EO-social performance. While support is lent to hypotheses posited for a social/financial performance relationship with donors’/investors’ demand for social outcomes, and with the management team’s training in business, the overall results remain mixed for Study 2. Nonetheless, this dissertation appears to be the first study to theorize and test EO as a micro-level condition enabling organizations to strategically shape and resist institutional pressures, and it reinforces that organizations’ behavior is not merely a product of their passive conformity to environmental forces, but of the agency, also. As such, this study aims to contribute to scholarly efforts by the “agency camp” of the new institutionalism and EO, answering a call from the leading scholars of both EO (Miller) and the new institutionalism (Oliver).