IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v139y2022icp448-456.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The double-edged sword effect of adaptation strategy on performance: The mediation of legitimacy and synergy

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Tao
  • Gao, Jie
  • Jia, Yu
  • Wang, Cheng Lu

Abstract

This study aims to advance theoretical development regarding the double-edged sword effect of adaptation strategy on performance from the institutional theory and organizational learning theory perspectives. In particular, we examine the intermediate role of legitimacy and synergy to explain the different paths from marketing adaptation strategy to performance contingent on the environmental conditions of cultural distance. Data from a survey of 202 Chinese multinational corporations located in 24 different host countries are analyzed, and the results reveal that the effect of adaptation strategy on performance is positively mediated by legitimacy but negatively mediated by synergy. Meanwhile, the indirect effect of adaptation strategy on performance via legitimacy and synergy is also moderated by cultural distance such that both indirect effects are stronger in host countries with a high cultural distance. This study provides theoretical and managerial implications for adaptation strategy research.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Tao & Gao, Jie & Jia, Yu & Wang, Cheng Lu, 2022. "The double-edged sword effect of adaptation strategy on performance: The mediation of legitimacy and synergy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 448-456.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:139:y:2022:i:c:p:448-456
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014829632100730X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ingmar Björkman & Günter K Stahl & Eero Vaara, 2007. "Cultural differences and capability transfer in cross-border acquisitions: the mediating roles of capability complementarity, absorptive capacity, and social integration," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(4), pages 658-672, July.
    2. Hardesty, David M. & Bearden, William O., 2004. "The use of expert judges in scale development: Implications for improving face validity of measures of unobservable constructs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 98-107, February.
    3. Navarro, Antonio & Losada, Fernando & Ruzo, Emilio & Díez, José A., 2010. "Implications of perceived competitive advantages, adaptation of marketing tactics and export commitment on export performance," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 49-58, January.
    4. Luis Filipe Lages & Sandy D Jap & David A Griffith, 2008. "The role of past performance in export ventures: a short-term reactive approach," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(2), pages 304-325, March.
    5. Sousa, Carlos M.P. & Bradley, Frank, 2008. "Antecedents of international pricing adaptation and export performance," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 307-320, July.
    6. Mo Chen & Aseem Kaul & Brian Wu, 2019. "Adaptation across multiple landscapes: Relatedness, complexity, and the long run effects of coordination in diversified firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(11), pages 1791-1821, November.
    7. Bruce Kogut & Harbir Singh, 1988. "The Effect of National Culture on the Choice of Entry Mode," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 19(3), pages 411-432, September.
    8. Hüseyin Tanriverdi & N. Venkatraman, 2005. "Knowledge relatedness and the performance of multibusiness firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 97-119, February.
    9. Zelong Wei & Hao Shen & Kevin Zheng Zhou & Julie Juan Li, 2017. "How Does Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility Matter in a Dysfunctional Institutional Environment? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 209-223, January.
    10. White, George O. & Hadjimarcou, John & Fainshmidt, Stav & Posthuma, Richard A., 2013. "MNE home country cultural norms and conflict strategy fit in transnational business contract disputes," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 554-567.
    11. Leslie E. Palich & Laura B. Cardinal & C. Chet Miller, 2000. "Curvilinearity in the diversification–performance linkage: an examination of over three decades of research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(2), pages 155-174, February.
    12. Bianchi, Constanza C. & Ostale, Enrique, 2006. "Lessons learned from unsuccessful internationalization attempts: Examples of multinational retailers in Chile," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 140-147, January.
    13. Shantanu Banerjee & Sunil Venaik, 2018. "The Effect of Corporate Political Activity on MNC Subsidiary Legitimacy: An Institutional Perspective," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 813-844, October.
    14. Rikard Larsson & Sydney Finkelstein, 1999. "Integrating Strategic, Organizational, and Human Resource Perspectives on Mergers and Acquisitions: A Case Survey of Synergy Realization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(1), pages 1-26, February.
    15. Insik Jeong & Jong-Ho Lee & Eunmi Kim, 2019. "Determinants of brand localization in international markets," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 13(1), pages 75-100, March.
    16. Lazear, Edward P, 1999. "Globalisation and the Market for Team-Mates," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(454), pages 15-40, March.
    17. Shantanu Banerjee & Sunil Venaik, 2018. "Correction to: The Effect of Corporate Political Activity on MNC Subsidiary Legitimacy: An Institutional Perspective," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(6), pages 1027-1027, December.
    18. Mandler, Timo & Sezen, Burcu & Chen, Jieke & Özsomer, Ayşegül, 2021. "Performance consequences of marketing standardization/adaptation: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 416-435.
    19. Udo Zander & Bruce Kogut, 1995. "Knowledge and the Speed of the Transfer and Imitation of Organizational Capabilities: An Empirical Test," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(1), pages 76-92, February.
    20. Teece, David J., 1980. "Economies of scope and the scope of the enterprise," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 223-247, September.
    21. S Cem Bahadir & Sundar G Bharadwaj & Rajendra K Srivastava, 2015. "Marketing mix and brand sales in global markets: Examining the contingent role of country-market characteristics," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 46(5), pages 596-619, June.
    22. Zheng, Qinqin & Luo, Yadong & Maksimov, Vladislav, 2015. "Achieving legitimacy through corporate social responsibility: The case of emerging economy firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 389-403.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Han, Wucheng & Li, Xiaoyu & Zhu, Weijie & Lu, Ruoyu & Zu, Xu, 2024. "Knowledge digitization and high-tech firm performance: A moderated mediation model incorporating business model innovation and entrepreneurial orientation," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    2. Zhang, Wei & He, Xinming & Wang, Tao & Wang, Kang, 2023. "Institutional distance and the international market entry mode: A meta-analysis," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(1).
    3. Liu, Feifei & He, Xinming & Wang, Tao, 2023. "In the name of the family: The effect of CEO clan culture background on firm internationalization," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Chang Lu & Yong Qi & Bo Yu, 2024. "Effects of Domestic and International External Collaboration on New Product Development Performance in SMEs: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-19, January.
    5. Wang, Tao & Deng, Xiaoyang & Sheng, Shibin & Jia, Yu, 2024. "Mitigating the damage of a global pandemic on the international buyer-supplier relationship: Evidence from Chinese suppliers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    6. Yu Jia & Yunqian Wang & Piao Li & Shuang Gao, 2024. "Economic Communication: The Influence of High-Speed Rail on Urban-Rural Income Inequality in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 47-73, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qiaowen Zhang & Annalien de Vries, 2022. "Seeking Moral Legitimacy through Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Multinationals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-21, April.
    2. Hutzschenreuter, Thomas & Horstkotte, Julian, 2013. "Performance effects of international expansion processes: The moderating role of top management team experiences," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 259-277.
    3. Ljubownikow, Grigorij & Ang, Siah Hwee, 2020. "Competition, diversification and performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 81-94.
    4. Hutzschenreuter, Thomas & Horstkotte, Julian, 2013. "Managerial services and complexity in a firm’s expansion process: An empirical study of the impact on the growth of the firm," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 137-151.
    5. Wonsang Ryu & Brian T. McCann & William P. Wan, 2022. "Learning by doing and corporate diversification," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(8), pages 1635-1665, August.
    6. Hendriks, Guus & Slangen, Arjen H.L. & Heugens, Pursey P.M.A.R., 2024. "Country portfolio diversity and firms’ portfolio adjustment decisions: A behavioral perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(4).
    7. Lee, Hyunmin, 2023. "Converging technology to improve firm innovation competencies and business performance: Evidence from smart manufacturing technologies," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    8. Humphery-Jenner, M., 2011. "Diversification in Private Equity Funds : On Knowledge-sharing, Risk-aversion and Limited-attention," Other publications TiSEM 3e22d8a9-6846-484f-a09e-7, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    9. Jiang, Jiangang & Zhang, Jianhong, 2023. "Does political ideology matter in Chinese cross-border acquisitions?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    10. Earl, Anna & Michailova, Snejina, 2021. "Home governments and MNEs in Russia: Relationships and MNE external legitimacy," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(2).
    11. Bauer, Florian & Matzler, Kurt & Wolf, Stefan, 2016. "M&A and innovation: The role of integration and cultural differences—A central European targets perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 76-86.
    12. Yuying Shi & Jeremy M. Lim & Barton A. Weitz & Stephen L. France, 2018. "The impact of retail format diversification on retailers’ financial performance," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 147-167, January.
    13. Adrian Lüthge, 2020. "The concept of relatedness in diversification research: review and synthesis," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 1-35, February.
    14. Alexandridis, George & Hoepner, Andreas G.F. & Huang, Zhenyi & Oikonomou, Ioannis, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility culture and international M&As," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1).
    15. Pyper, Keith & Marie Doherty, Anne & Gounaris, Spiros & Wilson, Alan, 2022. "A contingency-based approach to the nexus between international strategic brand management and export performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 472-488.
    16. Mandler, Timo & Sezen, Burcu & Chen, Jieke & Özsomer, Ayşegül, 2021. "Performance consequences of marketing standardization/adaptation: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 416-435.
    17. Maurizio Zollo & Jeffrey J. Reuer, 2001. "Experience Spillovers across Corporate Development Activities," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 01-35, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania.
    18. Yildiz, H. Emre, 2014. "Not All Differences Are the Same: Dual Roles of Status and Cultural Distance in Sociocultural Integration in Cross-border M&As," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 25-37.
    19. Adrian Lüthge & Ulrich Pidun & Dodo zu Knyphausen-Aufseß, 2021. "Approximating relatedness from a business model perspective: towards a taxonomic approach," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 813-846, April.
    20. Swoboda, Bernhard & Elsner, Stefan & Olejnik, Edith, 2015. "How do past mode choices influence subsequent entry? A study on the boundary conditions of preferred entry modes of retail firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 506-517.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:139:y:2022:i:c:p:448-456. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.