Organizational Contexts of Human Capital: Hiring MNC Employees and Exporting in Domestic Firms

Pedro de Faria, Torben Schubert, Wolfgang Sofka

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Abstract

Starting to export is a crucial but risky step for the growth strategy of most firms. Hiring managers with international experience can propel export decisions but we know little about where domestic firms find this expertise and whether it can be fruitfully applied in their context. We integrate theoretical mechanisms from the transferability of strategic human capital into models explaining export decisions. We theorize that hiring managers from MNCs increases the odds of domestic firms to start exporting and this effect benefits from similarities in the organizational context of the hiring firm with MNCs. We hypothesize that young firms, without international diversity in the workforce and flat hierarchies will benefit comparatively less from hiring MNC managers because the conditions for transfers of human capital are too dissimilar. We test and support these hypotheses for 159,680 domestic firms in Sweden, their hiring and export decisions between 2010 and 2015.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the Eightieth Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management
EditorsGuclu Atinc
Number of pages1
Place of PublicationBriarcliff Manor, NY
PublisherAcademy of Management
Publication date2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
EventThe Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2020: Broadening Our Sight - Virtual
Duration: 7 Aug 202011 Aug 2020
Conference number: 80
https://aom.org/events/annual-meeting/past-annual-meetings/2020-broadening-our-sight

Conference

ConferenceThe Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2020
Number80
LocationVirtual
Period07/08/202011/08/2020
Internet address
SeriesAcademy of Management Proceedings
ISSN0065-0668

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