Journal of Evolutionary Studies in Business

Works on family business history, 1949-2023

Teresa Mateo López-Mora — 2024-07-01

The history of the family business is a well-established field of study within business history. However, there is a lack of bibliometric studies on this topic. This requires, first of all, identifying publications on the subject. This has been precisely the object of our research. To do this, a systematic search has been conducted in three data sources - Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar -, using specific keywords to filter relevant publications, as well as applying inclusion and exclusion criteria to select appropriate works. The result has been the identification of 513 publications on the history of the family business between 1949 and 2023. 62% correspond to articles in academic journals, 23% to book chapters, and 15% to books. This compilation of works will serve as the basis for future bibliometric analyses on the history of the family business and a valuable resource for researchers interested in this field.

The Growth of Chinese Multinationals

Mike Peng — 2024-07-01

The growth of Chinese multinationals has become a fascinating component within the larger literature on the growth of firms in and out of emerging economies. Leveraging the latest and most-comprehensive data, Casanova and Miroux’s (2024) research enables us to evaluate the validity of predictions made by Peng and Heath (1996), Rugman and Li (2007), and Peng (2012). Overall, the growth of Chinese multinationals reported by Casanova and Miroux has not supported earlier predictions, but has increasingly supported more recent predictions. Casanova and Miroux’s research therefore has made significant contributions by providing much-needed empirical checks for the claims made by earlier scholars, thus revealing both the strengths and weaknesses of this rapidly evolving literature.

The Evolution of China and Its Rising Multinationals. Introduction

Lourdes Casanova — 2024-07-01

The emergence of Chinese companies as key players in the global economy underscores China’s transformation into a global powerhouse. Through large sample analyses, case studies, and literature surveys, this special issue aims to enhance our understanding of this phenomenon, focusing on various aspects of the internationalization of Chinese firms over the past two decades and exploring their success as well as the challenges they face moving forward.

Chinese Multinationals Gaining Global Dominance

Lourdes Casanova — 2024-07-01

Chinese firms have become key players in the global economy. Their rise is a defining feature since the turn of the century. In this paper, we analyze the ascent of Chinese firms in global business, the factors behind their emergence and how they have disrupted the global competitive landscape. Through the empirical study of large samples of firms and the help of databases like Capital IQ, FdI Markets and SDC Platinum, the paper examines the revenue growth and global expansion of Chinese firms– highlighting, among others, trends in geographical and sectoral distribution and modes of entry in foreign markets. The paper pays also particular attention to the rise of Chinese firms as global innovators and includes several cases studies in key industries. The paper concludes that while Chinese firms’ global expansion benefited from a favorable global environment, the current trade wars and geopolitical tensions, may be more challenging.

Green innovation drives globalization: a longitudinal case study of Angel Yeast’s evolution from a start-up to a world-class manufacturer

Xueyuan Liu — 2024-07-01

In the increasingly competitive global market, emerging market companies, represented by China, have shown mixed performance during their development process. Many companies grow rapidly in the early stages of development but cannot maintain long-term growth. How to achieve sustainable development has become a major challenge for emerging market companies, and green innovation is considered an effective way to address this issue. Based on the resource-based view, this paper conducts a longitudinal case study on Angel Yeast as the research subject, dividing the development process of Angel Yeast into three stages: the start-up period (1986-2000), the growth period (2000-2010), and the maturity period (2010-present), discussing how Angel Yeast has grown from a small start-up company to a world-class manufacturer. The study finds that Angel Yeast has utilized its unique resources at different stages of development for green technology innovation, green product innovation, green management innovation, green marketing innovation, green supply chain management, and green organizational culture construction, enabling Angel Yeast to gain a sustained competitive advantage and grow into a global leader in the yeast industry. This paper expands the research on the evolution of emerging market companies under the resource-based view theory and enriches the understanding of the role of green innovation in the growth process of enterprises.

Chinese SOEs’ technological upgrading through OFDI: The impact of political ties and subnational institutions. A survey of literature

Mengchen Suo — 2024-07-01

This paper presents a systematic literature review on the relationship between outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) and technological upgrading in Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), emphasizing the moderating role of political ties and subnational institutions. Analyzing 51 core papers from 2011 to 2022, the study synthesizes key theories on how political ties influence Chinese SOEs’ technological upgrading through OFDI. It also finds that political ties affect motivations and resources of SOEs with various types of state ownership and thus affect their OFDI strategies and innovation capabilities. This research further explores the impact of subnational institutions and their interactions with political ties. The findings underscore the perspective that subnational institutions shape a firm’s learning capability, and their impact is moderated by SOEs’ political ties. Finally, the study identifies key issues in SOEs’ technological upgrading through OFDI and offers valuable insights for policymakers and SOE managers. Future research directions are outlined to understand the impact of OFDI on the technological upgrading of Chinese SOEs.

Internationalization of Clusters: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) of Township Industrial Clusters

Qian Lu — 2024-07-01

This study aims to examine the internationalization of clusters, a driving force of the rising of multinational firms from emerging markets. We explored the question from the knowledge and relational dimension of clusters. We examine how the configuration of four factors, namely, component knowledge, architecture knowledge, horizontal competition, and vertical coordination, within a cluster jointly affect the degree of cluster internationalization by utilizing the Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) method. Using Data of 34 township clusters in Suzhou City, China, we identified three models that lead to a high cluster internationalization level.