The Effect of Internationalization on Firm Performance: A Moderating Role of Heterogeneity in TMTs’ Nationality

Abstract

The effect of internationalization on firm performance has been investigated in the hospitality literature in a relatively extensive manner. However, the literature has still provided mixed findings. Furthermore, the moderating role of top management teams (TMTs) on the relationship between internationalization and firm performance has not been explored yet in the hospitality literature. Considering the increasing importance of internationalization in the hospitality industry and a significant role of TMTs in implementing this internationalization, this study performs a comprehensive examination on the effect of internationalization on firm performance using three different internationalization measures (i.e., degree, diversification, and speed) and three different performance measures (i.e., Tobin’s q, return on assets, and international returns). This study also tests the moderating role of heterogeneity in TMTs’ nationality based on the upper echelons theory, employing hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to test the proposed hypotheses.