Charles Dhanaraj

Bio: Charles Dhanaraj is an academic researcher from Temple University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Emerging markets & Organizational learning. The author has an hindex of 21, co-authored 39 publications receiving 4821 citations. Previous affiliations of Charles Dhanaraj include University of Western Ontario & Internet Movie Database.

Orchestrating Innovation Networks

Abstract: Innovation networks can often be viewed as loosely coupled systems of autonomous firms. We propose that hub firms orchestrate network activities to ensure the creation and extraction of value, without the benefit of hierarchical authority. Orchestration comprises knowledge mobility, innovation appropriability, and network stability. We reject the view of network members as inert entities that merely respond to inducements and constraints arising from their network ties, and we embrace the essential player-structure duality present in networks.

Managing tacit and explicit knowledge transfer in IJVs: the role of relational embeddedness and the impact on performance

Abstract: Drawing on organizational learning and economic sociology, we address how relational embeddedness between the foreign parent and international joint venture (IJV) managers influences the type of knowledge (i.e., tacit and explicit) transferred to the IJV, and how the importance of relational embeddedness varies between young and mature IJVs. We also examine the influence of tacit and explicit knowledge on IJV performance. Our results show the importance that tie strength, trust, and shared values and systems play in the transfer of tacit knowledge, especially for mature IJVs. Our findings are consistent with Uzzi's tenets: tacit learning is accumulative, assists in explaining explicit knowledge, and is enhanced by social embeddedness. We also find that the influence of transferred tacit knowledge on IJV performance stems principally from its indirect effect on the learning of explicit knowledge.

A Resource-Based Approach to the Study of Export Performance

Abstract: This paper presents a comparative study of the export performance of U.S. and Canadian small and medium-sized exporters. A parsimonious model is developed drawing on the resource-based theory of the firm, with three sets of resources, namely firm size, enterprise, and technological intensity. These key resources are good predictors of the export strategy of a firm. Export strategy is modeled as degree of internationalization, and its effect on the overall firm performance is studied using firm-level performance measures. LISREL's multiple group analysis feature is used in the analysis to test the model. The results confirm the validity of the model across the two data sets.

Effect of equity ownership on the survival of international joint ventures

Abstract: This note extends transaction cost analysis of international joint ventures (IJVs) to include explicitly the effect of equity. It challenges the common practice of treating all foreign investments with between 5 percent and 95 percent equity as IJVs. A fine-grained analysis of the role of foreign equity ownership on the survival of 12,984 overseas subsidiaries confirms a declining, nonlinear, and asymmetrical relationship between equity and mortality in overseas subsidiaries. While investments involving small ownership levels ( 80%) have mortality rates comparable to that of wholly owned subsidiaries. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Managing the Embedded Multinational: A Business Network View

Abstract: It has long been recognized that controlling complex organizations like multinational enterprises (MNEs) is a multi-dimensional problem. Efficient organizational structures based on Coasian transaction costs often run afoul of individual or sub-unit goals, resulting in vertical conflicts between headquarters and subsidiaries (Nohria and Ghoshal, 1994). Further, horizontal competition among subsidiaries intent on promoting their own strategic agendas within the MNE results in internecine competition over resources and consequent rents (Mudambi and Navarra, 2004). Thus, the resulting organization and control structures of MNEs are the outcome of political processes where ‘power explains results when the organization sacrifices efficiency to serve special interests’ (Williamson and Ouchi, 1981). The network view of the MNE, built up over the years by the Uppsala school, is based on the essential recognition of the political aspects of the MNE, that is, ‘the political perspective stresses the fact that a great deal of the market knowledge … so important in explaining the internationalization process is controlled by subsidiaries rather than by the parent company’ (Forsgren, 1989). The current book sheds further light on the politics of the MNE by developing and extending the notion of embeddedness. It demonstrates that the Uppsala school remains fecund – a continuing source of new ideas on the cutting edge of IB research. Charles Dhanaraj's critical review provides an excellent dissection of the book, highlighting its pioneering aspects and linking it to methodologically rigorous mainstream research in management and sociology. Ram Mudambi JIBS Book Review Editor References Forsgren, M. (1989) Managing the Internationalization Process: The Swedish Case, Routledge: London. Mudambi, R. and Navarra, P. (2004) ‘Is knowledge power? Knowledge flows, subsidiary power and rent-seeking within MNCs’, Journal of International Business Studies 35(5): 385–406. Nohria, N. and Ghoshal, S. (1994) ‘Differentiated fit and shared values: alternatives for managing headquarters-subsidiary relations’, Strategic Management Journal 15(6): 491–502. Williamson, O.E. and Ouchi, W.G. (1981) ‘The markets and hierarchies program of research: origins, implications, prospects’, in A.E. Van de Ven and W.F. Joyce (eds.) Perspectives on Organization Design and Behavior, John Wiley: New York.

The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation

Abstract: How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.

Regression Diagnostics: Identifying Influential Data and Sources of Collinearity

Abstract: 1. Introduction and Overview. 2. Detecting Influential Observations and Outliers. 3. Detecting and Assessing Collinearity. 4. Applications and Remedies. 5. Research Issues and Directions for Extensions. Bibliography. Author Index. Subject Index.

The Uppsala Internationalization Process Model Revisited: From Liability of Foreignness to Liability of Outsidership

Abstract: The Uppsala internationalization process model is revisited in the light of changes in business practices and theoretical advances that have been made since 1977. Now the business environment is viewed as a web of relationships, a network, rather than as a neoclassical market with many independent suppliers and customers. Outsidership, in relation to the relevant network, more than psychic distance, is the root of uncertainty. The change mechanisms in the revised model are essentially the same as those in the original version, although we add trust-building and knowledge creation, the latter to recognize the fact that new knowledge is developed in relationships.