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Paul Beamish has authored over 62 books and 150 refereed journal articles. His books are in the areas of International Management, Strategic Management, and Joint Ventures and Alliances. His articles have appeared in Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS), and elsewhere. He served as Editor-in-Chief of JIBS from 1993-97 and is on numerous editorial boards. He is a Research Fellow of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.
Professor Beamish has supervised 36 PhD dissertations, many involving International Joint Ventures and Alliances. His consulting, management training, and joint venture facilitation activities have been in both the public and private sector. These have taken place in over a dozen countries for such organizations as Boeing, Canadian Foreign Service Institute, Cisco, Dupont, Harvard Institute for International Development, Hayes-Dana, Labatt/Interbrew, Schneider, and Valmet. He worked for Procter and Gamble and Wilfrid Laurier University before joining Ivey's faculty in 1987. The 39 Country Initiative allows Ivey cases to be used cost-free at Universities in 45 countries where the per capital income is less than US $2,000, and arranges container load shipments of educational material to selected countries.
Beamish has authored over 146 case studies, primarily in the international management area. These have appeared in Asian Case Research Journal, Case Research Journal, and in over 120 books. His cases have been among Ivey's top external sellers in each of the past ten years. He is recipient of best case writing awards from the European Foundation for Management Development, AIB, and ASAC.
Professor Beamish (Bao Ming Xin in Chinese) has worked on Asia-specific issues for many years. He has written case studies and/or conducted research involving China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam. He has served as a consultant to The World Bank on technology transfer to China, provided training programs in Asia for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, and co-edited a series of casebooks published in Chinese by Tsinghua University Press. He is series editor for 16 volumes of cases for the China market available in both English and Chinese and 10 volumes in Taiwan. His Asia-related books include Japanese Subsidiaries in the New Global Economy (Edward Elgar), Cooperative Strategies: Asian-Pacific Perspectives (published by The New Lexington Press), and Japanese Multinationals in the Global Economy (Edward Elgar).
He was the founding Director at Ivey of both the Asian Management Institute (1997) and the Engaging Emerging Markets Research Centre (2005). These were both folded into the International Business Institute (2016).
Teaching
International Management Theory and Research (PhD)
International Joint Ventures and Alliances (MSc)
Strategic Management/Business Policy (MBA and Undergraduate)
Multinational Enterprise Strategies/International Business (Executive MBA, HK EMBA, MBA and Undergraduate)
Abstract: In the 32 years since my term as JIBS EIC began, there has been enormous scholarly progress regarding international business research. At the same time, the international business (IB) environment has never been more complicated. Every scholar is faced with the question of which issues to spend more or less time pursuing. Useful suggestions have been provided by others: see for example Arikan and Shenkar (2022). My reflections focus on three some what-related areas.
Abstract: Subsidiary general manager (GM) succession selection is a critical process in multinational enterprises (MNEs). Previous research, grounded in organizational learning and routines, has suggested that GM succession dynamics typically follow either an acceleration or a deceleration momentum. However, as we investigated succession decision-making heuristics through interviews with MNE managers, we observed neither acceleration nor deceleration. Instead, we found some consistent succession dynamics. Within this consistency, we found variations in decision-making models among subsidiaries—some adopting a rule-based approach with a short succession dynamic, some adopting a goal-based approach with a moderate succession dynamic, and others adopting a people-based approach with a long succession dynamic. Underlying these models were bounded rationality, bounded reliability, and their unexpected interactions. Our study sheds light on the critical role of managers in subsidiary management, enriches international business theorizing on the subsidiary GM succession process, and refines the boundary conditions of organizational learning. The central message is that looking solely at GM succession dynamics through an organizational learning lens may risk overlooking relevant causal mechanisms. To make the theorizing on the dynamics of subsidiary management more fertile, the behavioral model should account for the idiosyncrasies of decision-making as well as the heuristics of decision-makers.
Abstract: The extant literature suggests that it is sensible to deploy a host-country national (HCN) general manager (GM) successor in the local-market-seeking subsidiaries of multinational enterprises. However, limited attention has been paid to whether subsidiary GMs come from outside or inside an organization. By simultaneously considering the nationality and origin of subsidiary GM successors, our case-based study provides a sharper theory of succession decision-making in the context of local-market-seeking subsidiaries. We demonstrated that the use of HCN GMs is not always the best strategy, and can even be the worst option because ex post opportunism may arise for HCN GM successors promoted from within the subsidiary. Using HCNs from outside the subsidiary can limit ex post opportunism but may entail a new bounded reliability issue resulting from identity-based discordance. Our interview data revealed a managerial safeguard, which we term ex ante socialization, to address this issue.
Abstract: We examine an emerging market multinational company's (EMNC's) transformation from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to an original brand manufacturer (OBM) and global leader. Our longitudinal study of Hisense—China's largest TV company (and the world's third largest) spans three decades and involves detailed interviews with over 50 executives. We study how the company's global value chain network evolved, how it reconfigured its organization, upgraded its capabilities, and enhanced its brand reputation. We develop propositions that may contribute to improved explanations for an EMNC's internationalization sequence, development of competitive advantages, overseas management practices, and brand building.
Abstract: We examine the timing and mode of firm exits from host-country conflict zones. We argue that timing and mode are interdependent decisions where decision ordering matters, and show that a firm’s prioritizing of either exit timing or mode is dependent on the relative salience of two behavioral stimuli: (1) the firm’s own experience (i.e., its performance shortfall), and (2) the experience of peer firms (i.e., their exits). Using instrumental variables modeling on a sample of 101 Japanese MNE exits from 11 conflict-afflicted countries between 1991 and 2005, we demonstrate that, when mode is prioritized over timing, partial exits tend to occur earlier and whole exits later. However, when timing is prioritized over mode, the decision choices reverse: earlier exits tend to be whole and later exits partial. The outcome of one decision therefore affects that of the other in a unique and predictable manner, such that the ordering of the decisions both produces and precludes strategic choices. Our findings, based on a multidecision problem that has traditionally been treated as a single decision (i.e., foreign exit), delineate expanded boundary conditions for satisficing, as well as reconcile optimizing and satisficing behaviors.
Abstract: Natural disasters pose significant threats to MNEs and their subsidiaries. We evaluate the impact and temporal significance of unsystematic disasters on MNE governance decisions. Focusing on JVs and drawing upon new internalization theory, we assess the significance of parent-subsidiary characteristics and experience after a disaster. Our dataset encompasses 7,938 disaster events across 132 countries affecting 5,375 Japanese MNEs and 20,053 subsidiaries over 26 years. We demonstrate the negative impact of disasters on JV survival and observe acquisition (exit) following a disaster based on higher (lower) levels of asset specificity, relative importance, and country and disaster specific experience.
Abstract: Research summary: Rare events and other non-error outliers (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) are important phenomena in global strategy contexts. Despite their salience, however, they have hardly been studied systematically in our field (or organizational research at large). We suggest that this is due to a dominance of the Gaussian paradigm, which (often unrealistically) assumes linearity and independence of observations. Moreover, case-based qualitative studies which offer contextualization have been underrepresented. We thus call on researchers to abolish the practice of habitually discarding outliers, reflect on non-normal distributions, and pursue more qualitative studies. Journal editors and reviewers should widen their assumptions regarding “acceptable” papers and reflect on the requirement of contributing to big “T” theories. Finally, PhD training should juxtapose fundamental paradigms and associated implications for epistemological choices.
Managerial summary: Extreme occurrences, such as organizational crises, recessions, or pandemics, are challenges most practitioners deal with and worry about. Understanding their determinants, characteristics, and dynamics allows for heightened vigilance, preparedness, and ultimately performance. Yet, much of global strategy research (and organizational research at large) has focused on “average” phenomena, based on methodologies that assume bell-shaped distributions and independent observations. In this note, we argue that this is not a realistic way to think about most social phenomena. In fact, most are characterized by their high degree of interdependence among elements, as well as a relative commonness of “rare” events and outliers. As a result of embracing the reality of non-normality, scholars will be able to offer more relevant guidance to practitioners.
Abstract: This study aims to bridge the research on the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with that on initial public offerings (IPOs). It investigates how IPOs affect SMEs’ foreign investment decisions as they internationalize. We argue that IPOs enable SMEs to engage in a period of accelerated foreign expansion, resulting in a wave-like pattern as suggested by Håkanson and Kappen’s (2017) ‘Casino model’ of internationalization. We also propose that there will be a post-IPO shift in SMEs entering less familiar locations and towards taking higher ownership stakes in new subsidiaries. We use a difference-in-differences design combined with coarsened exact matching to isolate the effects of IPOs. Our analysis of overseas investments by a matched sample of newly listed Japanese manufacturing SMEs and their private counterparts provides strong evidence that SMEs accelerate the pace of establishing new foreign subsidiaries after going public. The results also reveal nuanced changes in the location and ownership patterns in the post-IPO period. This study identifies the IPO as a significant antecedent to SME foreign expansion and offers a new explanation for intertemporal variance in the pace, direction, and commitment of the SME internationalization process.
Abstract: We investigate the relationship between multinational enterprise parent-subsidiary governance (MNEPSG), host country governance quality (HCGQ), and foreign subsidiary survival. We draw upon agency theory, MNEPSG literature, and institutional theory to develop a holistic conceptual model. We test our hypotheses using a large longitudinal sample of 1,711 MNEs and 13,398 subsidiaries in 63 countries from 1990-2013. We find that key MNEPSG mechanisms (Ownership, Expatriates, and Regional Headquarters) positively impact foreign subsidiary survival, whereas HCGQ negatively impacts it; and that increasing Ownership and Expatriates is more effective in high HCGQ contexts. We discuss important implications for research and practice.
Abstract: The resource-based view (RBV) has evolved into a pre-eminent theory of strategic management. It is widely used by IB scholars, since there is considerable synergy in core research questions pursued by international business (IB) and strategy researchers. However, in research on multinational enterprise (MNE) behavior, the use of RBV remains limited, relative to other influential perspectives such as the eclectic paradigm, the Uppsala model, and institutional theory. This is not surprising since the RBV was developed to explain performance differentials between country-centric firms with dominant product businesses, rather than large MNEs with an expansive product-geographic scope. We describe how these limitations arise from the wider range of outcomes and explanatory variables, multiple levels of analysis, and the spatial, economic, and institutional barriers that are relevant to MNEs. We discuss the application of RBV to MNE research by the first author and other IB scholars. We then provide directions on how future research could use RBV more fruitfully to examine MNE performance and sources of competitive advantage in several areas. These include diversified corporations, subsidiary agglomeration, emerging market MNE internationalization, subsidiary autonomy, international joint ventures and alliances, and corporate social responsibility. Drawing upon teaching case examples from the first author’s work, we also point to the effectiveness of RBV in teaching with business cases, given its focus on firm performance (strategy).
Abstract: This study seeks to advance a fine-grained understanding of the relationship between host-country institutions and foreign subsidiary survival by unbundling host-country institutions into contracting institutions and property rights institutions as well as engaging subsidiary-level heterogeneity. We argue that the adverse effects of weak contracting institutions are stronger for market-seeking subsidiaries than resource-seeking subsidiaries. In contrast, we contend that weak property rights institutions are more detrimental to the survival of resource-seeking subsidiaries. Data from a longitudinal, paired-sample design of Japanese foreign subsidiaries operating across 46 countries provide support for these arguments. These results (a) contribute to gaining a more fine-grained understanding of whether and how institutions relate to subsidiary survival and (b) underscore the need to better understand institutional diversity as well as subsidiary heterogeneity.
Abstract: Host country tax considerations are critical to multinational enterprise (MNE) foreign direct investment decisions, but understudied in international business (IB) research. We address this gap by examining the relationship between host country corporate income tax rates (HCCITRs) and foreign subsidiary survival. We develop our hypothesis drawing upon location/country-specific advantage theory and international tax literature. Our longitudinal sample (1990–2013) comprises 13,468 MNE subsidiaries in 78 countries. Results indicate a one standard deviation (7.7 %) decrease in HCCITR increases subsidiary survival probability (at any given time) by 33 %. This effect is stronger compared to several well studied explanatory variables in IB survival analysis.
Abstract: Corporate anti-corruption initiatives can make a substantial contribution towards curtailing corruption and advancing efforts to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. However, researchers have observed that underdeveloped assumptions with respect to the conceptualization of corruption and how firms respond to corruption have impeded the efficacy of anti-corruption programs. We investigate the relationship between the perceived level of corruption in foreign host countries and the organizational structure of subsidiary operations established by multinational corporations (MNCs). Foreign host market corruption is disaggregated into two components – private and public corruption. We employ an uncertainty-based perspective grounded in transaction cost theory to focus upon the distinct mechanisms through which private and public corruption can each be expected to impact a foreign subsidiary’s organizational structure (whollyowned subsidiary (WOS) or a joint venture (JV) with a local partner). We expect that each type of corruption fosters a different type of uncertainty (environmental or behavioral) which predominates in shaping the MNC’s choice of foreign subsidiary investment structure. Hypotheses are developed and tested with a sample of 187 entries into 19 foreign host markets. Each type of corruption was found to exert a distinct effect upon the organizational structure of foreign subsidiaries. More precisely, while heightened perceived levels of public corruption were found to motivate MNCs to invest through a JV with a local partner rather than a WOS, more pronounced private corruption precipitated the opposite outcome.
Abstract: Multinational firms often make multiple investments over time in a concentrated set of countries, accumulating superior knowledge and capabilities in these environments. Researchers have nonetheless uncovered factors that can lead firms to deviate from strategic trajectories defined by their prior investments. In a statistical analysis of country entry decisions by Japanese manufacturing firms over a 35-year period, we found that firms’ tendencies to re-invest in the same host countries were smaller for horizontal (i.e. market-seeking) investments but greater for vertical (i.e. efficiency-seeking) investments. We also found that organizational capabilities influence the geographic trajectory of international expansion: firms with stronger marketing and production capabilities were less likely to be influenced by the locations of prior entries and were more likely to invest in new countries.
Abstract: Extant research has found that more pronounced levels of corruption in foreign host emerging markets increase the likelihood that subsidiaries established by multinational enterprises (MNEs) from developed countries will exit. We synthesize insights from the organizational perspective of corruption and the integration-responsiveness paradigm to propose that integration-oriented strategies will weaken the positive relationship between corruption and the likelihood of exit at high levels of host market corruption. We develop and test hypotheses pertaining to the main effect of corruption on the likelihood of subsidiary exit, as well as the moderating impacts of a firm’s equity ownership strategy and its expatriate staffing strategy upon this relationship. We theorize that uncertainty operates as the mechanism that underpins the corruption-market exit relationship, and that an MNE’s strategic choices with respect to its subsidiary investments contribute to reducing this uncertainty. We find that an increase in the foreign-investing MNE’s equity ownership share negatively moderates the positive relationship between corruption and the likelihood that foreign subsidiaries established by developed market MNEs will exit host emerging markets when corruption is high. However, the marginal effects results do not support the expatriate staffing strategy hypothesis. Our work provides theoretically-grounded and empirically-supported guidance to developed country MNEs that seek insights with respect to the utility of strategies that might be implemented in host emerging markets characterized by more pronounced levels of corruption.
In 2024, Paul Beamish received the Ivey Research Merit Award.
In 2021, Professor Beamish received the Case Centre's "Outstanding Contribution to the Case Method Award".
Professor Beamish received the International Management Eminent Scholar Award 2017 and Outstanding Educator Award 2012, from the Academy of Management.
He has received best research paper awards from the Academy of Management, the Academy of International Business (AIB), and the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC).
In 2017, he was recognized by Journal of International Business Studies as the fifth most published author in the history of the journal, in 2014 by Management International Review as the fifth most prolific contributor to the IB literature between 1995-2011, in 2010 by International Business Review as the second most productive I.B. scholar in the 1996-2008 period.
Experience
Full Professor, since 1996; Tenured, 1990; Associate Professor, effective July 1989; Assistant Professor, July 1987-June 1989.
Assistant Professor, School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, Dec. 1984-June 1987; Lecturer, July 1982-Dec. 1984.
Proprietor - Nomad Trading Company, 1977-90.
Manager, Comptroller’s Division - The Procter and Gamble Company of Canada Ltd., 1976-1979.
