Host County Research Articles

해외 자회사 내 지식 공유 촉진자로서의 현지 직원의 문화지능에 관한 연구

As the strategic importance of knowledge that resides in host county nationals (HCNs) increases, this study begins with the motivation to advance our understanding of HCNs’ cultural intelligence (CQ) as a prominent promoter of their knowledge sharing. Drawing on social identity theory, we hypothesized a serial mediation effect of (i) relationship between HCNs and expatriates, and (ii) HCNs’ organizational identification. We empirically tested the model with 414 responses collected by HCNs working for 16 foreign subsidiaries in Korea. Results from structural equation model show that high CQ of HCNs is positively related to the relationship between expatriates and HCNs. This positive relationship between two parties is found to facilitate organizational identification of HCNs. Lastly, it was shown that HCNs’ organizational identification has a positive impact on their active knowledge sharing within foreign subsidiaries. Moreover, we found that the impact of HCNs’ CQ on their knowledge sharing is fully mediated by two suggested mediators. This research contributes to investigating the role of CQ in knowledge management from the perspective of HCNs, rather than following extant studies that give more focus on expatriates. We also proposed the full mediation model that identifies the process by which HCNs’ knowledge sharing is promoted in a multicultural work environment.

Retaining the repatriate by organisation in developing countries (in Africa): understanding the decision-making point (stay or leave) of the expatriate

PurposeDespite the high rates of repatriate attrition, organisations in developing countries continue to send some of their employees to study in tertiary institutions in developed countries to acquire and build competencies that are deemed strategically important for contemporary work. Although several studies have been conducted on expatriate experience and challenges, those relating repatriation experiences are limited, particularly those concerning organisationally assigned scholars (employees who are sponsored to study overseas). Consequently, the present study explored the intention to stay or leave of organisationally assigned Ghanaian scholars who pursued higher degrees in Australia.Design/methodology/approachTo understand the decision of organisationally assigned sponsored scholars to either stay in or leave the host-organisation upon their return, a phenomenological methodology was adopted to explore the lived experiences of organisation assigned scholars (OAS) from Ghana, studying in Australia. The face-to-face interview approach was used to interview 20 Ghanaians who pursued their further studies in Australia. The interviewees consisted of six females and 14 males.FindingsThe results reveal that for expatriate’s in this study, the decision to stay or leave the organisation upon repatriation was made mid-way through the expatriation process in the host county. Hence, organisations intending on retaining their OAS when they return home must focus their support and engagement efforts during this crucial period.Practical implicationsAlthough they are away on further studies, OAS are still active members of the organisation. Therefore, organisations need to maintain contact with them (OAS), constantly check progress of their study and provide some support, as they might motivate them to want to return and work with the organisation. Consequently, more effective strategies (those for managing them while they are away and those for managing them when they return) should be deployed to incentivise their expatriate to return home.Originality/valueThe study explored an important yet understudied research questions in the repatriation literature. By studying the decision of OASs to either return and stay in or leave an organisation back home contributes uniquely to the existing literature, as studies focusing on that population (i.e. OAS’s) are scarce.

Research on the Influence of Host Country’s Economic Policy Uncertainty on China’s OFDI

The influence of host county economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on China’s outward foreign direct investment is examined in this article (OFDI). The impact of host country economic policy uncertainty on China’s OFDI is investigated using panel data from Chinese OFDI to 20 important investment countries from 2011 to 2020. A fixed effects model is used, with the host country’s economic policy uncertainty as the main explanatory variable and six significant variables chosen as control variables. According to the results of the empirical analysis, the host country’s economic policy uncertainty will inhibit investment from the home country to that country.

Homeland Run: Israeli Baseball and American Transmigrants.

This paper addresses an aspect of cultural transfer and transformation by immigrants, focusing on the case of Israeli baseball, brought to Israel by Jewish migrants from the USA. As such, it examines cultural transfer as part of the transnational activities of transnational migrants. The analysis is based on interviews with 20 Jewish migrants from the USA to Israel who are engaged In Israeli baseball - as players, coaches, administrators, etc. - as well as five Israeli-born players who are also engaged in the sport. This study contributes to our understanding of transnational migration by drawing attention to the ways in which the experiences of transnational migrants are shaped by recreational activity and how transnational migrants' activities affect their host county. This occurs via transnational cultural diffusion, mediated in this case by a "critical community" of American Jews. Israeli baseball provides Jewish migrants from the USA with a means to identify with Israel as well as a sense of transnational belonging and, counter-intuitively, eases their acculturation to Israeli society.

Health interventions for migrants and refugees in host Southeast Asian countries: a systematic review

Abstract Background Understanding the different types of health interventions that have been conducted for migrants and refugees is crucial for the improvement and implementation of future health interventions for these populations. This systematic review aimed to identify and to look at the scope and outcomes of health interventions focused on migrants and refugees in the main host counties in Southeast Asia which are Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. Methods This study was conducted in line with the PRISMA guidelines and its protocol has been submitted to PROSPERO. The following databases were searched until June 2021: PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, Cochrane, and Google Scholar. Studies were excluded if: 1) they were conducted outside Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia; 2) had only had qualitative results; 3) were non-peer reviewed; 4) not written in English. Results The search yielded 8,266 studies, out of which 33 were included in the review. The majority of the studies (79%) were conducted in Thailand of which most were focused on migrants or refugees from Myanmar (85%). Besides two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of mental health interventions, most Thai studies were observational (81%) and focused on infectious disease-related interventions (33%) or the evaluation of health-related programs (29%). Six studies were conducted in Malaysia (18%) of which 4 assessed mental health interventions in refugees. Three of these studies were RCTs, whereas 1 was an observational study. Only 1 study was situated in Singapore and was an RCT evaluating treatments for COVID-19 in migrant workers. Even in studies with similar interventions, outcomes were too diverse to conduct a meta-analysis. Conclusions The low number of studies highlights the gap in literature on health interventions for migrants and refugees, especially in Malaysia and Singapore. More rigorous and cohesive intervention-related research needs to be conducted in Southeast Asia. Key messages • More intervention-related research for migrant and refugee populations in the main Southeast Asian host countries is needed. • Interventions for migrant and refugee populations in host countries in Southeast Asia often do not follow the gold standard RCT study design, limiting the knowledge on their effectiveness.

Why did they get in trouble? The influence of firm characteristics and institutional distance on Chinese firms' foreign market entry attempt.

Despite the rich body of research on the outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) by Chinese multinationals, little attention has been given to the fact that China’s OFDI is facing a high failure rate even in their initial attempt to enter a foreign market. Grounded on institutional theory, this study provides a nuanced view of the expansion dynamic of Chinese multinational firms overseas using a unique dataset that contains both successful and troubled Chinese foreign market entry attempts between 2018 and 2021. We find that at the firm level, state-owned firms are more likely to face difficulties when trying to enter a new market compared to their private counterparts. Firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting reduces the chance of failure. These effects are conditioned on the political, economic, and cultural distances between the home and host counties.

What has Belt and Road gas cooperation brought us for —— The financial benefits, the modern governance, or the narrowed distance between cultures?

China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, providing itself with a stable foundation to deepen the gas cooperation with signatories. However, such activities would inevitably confront the cross-cultural challenges that go hand in hand with lucrative opportunities. This paper explores the net policy effects of BRI in the aspects of economy, politics, and culture, together with other impacts from the national traits and the resource types. Results show that there does exist a significant BRI net policy effect on the host country’s GDP per capita and Chinese oversea projects’ net cash flow. But there’s no significance in reducing the political distance & cultural distance between the host county and China. While gas, as vital low-carbon fossil energy, does have brought changes quite differently from the traditional oil business, not only to the host country but also to Chinese investment. What’s more, even in the same country, value divergence exists between the official government & the masses. Finally, Chinese oil & gas investment preference is known for “high risk, high return” and an inclination to countries with a similar social hierarchy to its own.

Poor Income and Unemployment as Determinants of Labour Migration: Empirical Evidence From Bangladeshi Migrant Workers in Klang, Malaysia

The present work is an empirical study of the causes of labour migration, especially, Bangladeshi temporary migrants to Malaysia. The study is based on the survey of 100 Bangladeshi migrant workers who were selected according to two stage sampling procedure. On one stage, an area where Bangladeshi workers reside was selected through random sampling procedure. On the second stage, 100 respondents were selected from the area according to purposive snowball sampling procedure. The main objective of the study is to find out the causes for migration of Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia. The majority, 66 respondents, leave their country because of poor income. These respondents had some income in their origin country but that was not sufficient to survive their needs to look after their family. It was also found that 31 respondents left the country because of unemployment. Thus, most of the Bangladeshi workers left their country due to poor income and unemployment. Finally, the study suggested that adequate measures should be taken to provide pre-departure training on job and host county’s culture to the expected migrant workers.

How Much New Forest Land Would it Take to Offset a Coal Plant’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions? An Engineering Case Study of Georgia’s Plant Scherer

Climate change is largely caused by continued use of fossil fuels to provide energy services. Increasingly, given the goal of mitigating climate change, organizations like power utilities are announcing “net-zero” greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions goals that do not necessarily require fossil fuel–fired facilities to mitigate their emissions or close. If paired with carbon dioxide removal (CDR), ongoing emissions could theoretically coexist with net-zero goals. CDR, however, is resource intensive, regardless of removal pathway. One common question is whether tree planting could be a low-impact pathway to compensate for ongoing or legacy GHG emissions, since trees take up atmospheric CO2 and store the carbon as wood. Although planting trees might sound like a benign climate strategy, the need for additionality and permanence means that forestry-based CDR has immense land requirements at climate-relevant scales. To contextualize this land intensity, this case study evaluates how much land would be required to counterbalance a utility’s emissions from a large coal-fired power plant in Georgia with forest-based CDR. Compensating for 1 year of plant emissions would require permanent industrial forestation of all land in the plant’s host county that is not already forested or developed (with buildings, roads, etc.), with a 30-year lead time—highlighting a key challenge of relying on tree planting to meet climate goals. Readers engaging this case will be able to discuss land use requirements of relying on compensatory forestry-based CDR for net-zero emissions goals, in addition to being prepared to replicate this analysis for other power plants or emitters.

Impact of corruption on Chinese investment in African countries

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the impact of host country corruption on foreign direct investment (FDI) from China to developing countries in Africa. With the opposing arguments that corruption is detrimental to or instrumental in FDI and mixed empirical evidence, this paper contributes to the literature by providing new evidence on the issue. Additionally, little research has been done on the impact of corruption on FDI made by developing country multinationals to developing countries. This paper fills a void in this area.Design/methodology/approachBased on the published literature, as well as China and Africa contexts, the authors develop hypotheses that host countries with low corruption receive more FDI and resource-seeking investments weaken the relationship. The annual stock of Chinese FDI in 35 African countries, host country corruption data and other control variables from 2007 to 2015 are collected. Feasible generalized least squares models are used to test the hypotheses. Additional robustness tests are also conducted.FindingsThe findings support the hypotheses. Specifically, Chinese investors make more investments in host countries with low corruption except for resource-seeking investments in resource-rich host counties. The results are statistically significant accounting for various control variables. The results of the robustness tests show that the main findings are robust.Originality/valueFirst, this study provides new evidence on the impact of corruption on FDI. Second, this study also fills a void by examining FDI from a developing country, China to other developing countries in Africa. Finally, this study also has a practical implication for Chinese multinationals investing in Africa.

English Language for Refugees at Higher Education

After the massive immigration caused by the war in middle east, English language filled the communicationgap between the people of host counties and refugees. Framing the study with language learning for resilience, in this qualitative case study, the status of refugee students at a Turkish higher education foreign language institution has been investigated to find out: (a) educational background of refugee students, (b)refugees’ current state of language learning for resilience, and (c) instructors’ positions on English education for resilience.Two Iraqi, one Syrian refugee students and their two language teachers participated in this study. Tocollect data, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The results showed us that although these students are coming from different educational backgrounds, they hold similar beliefs about English education and have hopes for their future. It is implied that with special and intensive assistance, being competent in English language will open the gates to global opportunities for refugees.

Survivors of Hell: Resilience Amongst Unaccompanied Minor Refugees and Implications for Treatment- a Narrative Review

Approximately half of the world’s displaced population are children and a significant proportion of these are unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC). UASC are the most vulnerable of all refugee populations. Up to 90% of UASC have been subjected to exploitation, including trafficking or being drafted into military groups. Having survived the perils of flight, UASC are confronted with continued challenges, including the uncertainties regarding their residential rights in host counties. Unsurprisingly, the prevalence of mental health problems is higher amongst UASC than in any other refugee group. Yet, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) appears to neither reach nor engage UASC. This begs for re-examination of what and how MHPSS is offered. Despite high levels of adversity, UASC often have considerable resilience, and make remarkable recoveries. However, literature exploring their resources or their own views of what helps or hinders recovery is scarce. In this narrative review, we explore individual and systemic factors promoting recovery in UASC. We consider theoretical understanding of resilience, emerging data and user perspectives. From these we deduct four areas of resilience in UASC: Individual factors – prosocial behaviour, problem-solving skills; Lifetime relationships – positive early family relationships, connection with family and country of origin, positive peer and adult relationships in host country; Acculturation – integration of own and new culture, positive relationships with prosocial institutions; Care arrangements – supported but less restrictive living arrangements. We suggest, MHPSS may need to focus on enhancing social networks, including connectedness with positive relationships in the home-country, life-history work with a focus on resource-building experiences in addition to trauma, and promoting integration of old and new cultural values. We also conclude that despite growing data, there is a gap in both eliciting user perspectives and understanding adaptive resources, especially those emerging during early development and within their cultural setting.

Adjustment Factors on the Work Performance of Bangladeshi Temporary Contract Workers in Malaysia

This is an empirical study on Bangladeshi workers’ socio-cultural adjustment to Malaysian environment in Kuala Lumpur. It explores and assesses three-dimensional adjustments—social, work and non-work environment—of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia. The focus is on socio-cultural adjustment to the general or non-work environment, adjustment to work and adjustment to interactions with co-workers and the locals. The first stage of the study is based on the interview with 25 Bangladeshi temporary migrant workers to collect relevant information about their level of adjustment. The difficulty in getting the list of migrant worker did not allow the researchers to select samples randomly. On the second stage, 100 respondents were selected from the area according to purposive and snowball sampling procedure. The data were analysed using SPSS version 18.0 software. Cronbach alpha was computed to ascertain the reliability and validity of the instrument. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The study revealed that Bangladeshi workers’ adjustment on non-work or general adjustment and interaction adjustment are quite high, but their adjustment is less on work adjustment dimension. Furthermore, workers’ degree of comfort (adjustment) with non-work condition was related to their performance of work, but their degree of comfort (adjustment) with work adjustment and interaction adjustment is not related to their work performance. The study suggested that adequate measures should be taken to provide pre-departure training on job and host county’s culture to the expected migrant workers. The government of the native country should also monitor the activities of recruiting agencies.

Assessing and allocating the financial viability risk factors in public-private partnership wastewater treatment plant projects

PurposeThis research investigates the financial viability risk factors that threaten the private investor's economic scheme in the public private partnership (PPP) wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) projects in Egypt. The aims of this study are to: (1) illustrate and cluster the financial viability risk factors in accordance with the PPP WWTP projects' nature, (2) assess the risk factors' criticality degrees according to their severity and frequency levels of the financial viability, and (3) pinpoint the suited allocation of the financial viability risk factors between the public and private parties.Design/methodology/approachRelying on the previous analysts' endeavors, the questionnaire method, the fuzzy synthetic evaluation approach and the hypothetical normal distribution curve model; the severity, frequency, criticality and allocation preference of 32 financial viability risk factors were assessed from 12 Egyptian PPP experts.FindingsThe data analysis yielded that foreign exchange risk, currency risk/inflation, license risk, construction cost-overrun and late site handover are the key factors in arising the financial viability risk issue in the PPP WWTP projects. Considering the discussion of these key risks, the study summarized that the financial viability's key risk factors are notably be affected by the economic, political and administrative circumstances of the host county. Additionally, the inflation lesion was found to be the core reason of most of the key risk factors.Originality/valueThis research originality stems from its contribution to address the gab in the PPP risk assessment literature of the concessionaire's financial viability in the WWTP projects in a country of developing economy as Egypt. This, first, enriches the scholarly based knowledge of the PPP projects' risk analysts of the developing countries. Accordingly, it moves the current PPP risk assessment research further to deeply apprehend these markets' risks. Second, it equips the policymakers in the public and private sectors of such projects with a map that clarifies their assigned risk factors and the responsibilities that each party should bear to generate a mutual stable investment environment for achieving their aims successfully. This, indeed, paves the way for more private investments to be involved in the developing markets' PPP projects with a profitable satisfactory level for the private concessionaire. In the same vein, more WWTP projects, which are highly needed for the public sector and its people, are executed.

Knowledge grafting during internationalization: utilizing localized professionals in the foreign market

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand knowledge grafting through localized professionals in the internationalization of the firm. Knowledge grafting refers to firms increasing their knowledge stock by acquiring new staff, and while the concept is not new in studies on firms’ internationalization, there is little understanding of the characteristics of the individuals carrying the knowledge, the types of knowledge grafted and how it contributes to a market entry process.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted an explorative study with a multiple-case research design and purposely selected five localized Swedish managers working for Russian subsidiaries of Swedish firms. Face-to-face interviews were conducted. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed based on three types of knowledge: general foreign market knowledge, social network knowledge and professional knowledge. The authors also considered both private and professional ties.FindingsThe findings show that characteristics of the localized professional and the firm can influence the type of knowledge grafted and how it is used. The findings also highlight the key role of the individual as knowledge carrier and show an alternative way to obtain knowledge in firm internationalization.Research limitations/implicationsThis study comes with limitations. Only Swedish firms entering Russia with wholly owned subsidiaries have been considered. Further studies comparing knowledge grafting with firms in different entry mode, varying stage of market entry, as well as other countries of origin can further enrich our understanding. Future studies can also focus on localized professionals to shed light on the knowledge transfer between them and other individuals within the firms and the potential impact of their departure on knowledge grafting.Practical implicationsInternationalizing firms should pay attention to the opportunity of grafting knowledge by appointing localized professionals already living in the market. Governmental agencies in the host county can be a valuable source for identifying foreign nationals of the same origin as the firm.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to focus on the individual level of knowledge grafting and to examine how localized professionals acquire knowledge to support firms in internationalization.

Exploration of Migrants’ Social Life: A Case Study on Bangladeshi Temporary Contract Worker’s in Malaysia

Migrant workers are a different community as they have leave their origin country and entered to a new nation where the social life they had to dealt with differently. Because social life is very important as an individual has hold an ideology, special socio-cultural background and religious affiliation. It is, thus, an important phenomena to assess the perception of migrants about social life, the nature of their involvement in the social setting, the meaning they attach to it and their priorities and preferences in interacting with others. The study is based on the face-to-face interview of 100 Bangladeshis migrant workers who were selected according to two stage sampling procedure. On one stage, an area where Bangladeshi workers reside was selected through random sampling procedure. On the second stage, 100 respondents were selected from the area according to purposive and snowball sampling procedures. The study suggested that adequate measures should be taken to provide pre-departure training on job and Host County’s culture to the expected migrant workers.

Tuberculosis contact investigations in congregate settings in Rome, Italy: contribution of migration

Abstract Background In middle to low incidence countries tuberculosis (TB) is known to concentrate in big cities as national incidence falls: in the last decade TB incidence in Rome metropolitan area and in Lazio region has been higher than the national estimates; TB incidence among foreign born fell by more than half despite remaining higher than among Italian born. We aimed to describe the current dynamics of TB transmission among residents of our local health unit in Rome metropolitan area in order to drive specific TB control interventions at local level. Methods We retrospectively evaluated characteristics of TB cases and results of contact investigations among the residents of ASL Roma 2 in congregate settings over year 2018. Results Overall 217 TB cases were notified, of which 70.5% with pulmonary involvement. Male/female ratio was 2.4/1 and age group most affected was 25-44 among foreign born and >65 among natives. During the study period foreign born cases accounted for 65% of the total number of TB cases. 19/141 (13.5%) foreign born patients were hosted in a reception center. 479 exposed close contacts were screened, with no evidence of secondary TB disease transmission. No identifiable links were found among cases occurred in the same immigrant reception center. Conclusions Italian guidelines recommend symptom screening for TB and LTBI testing both of new entrants and of long term residents -including second–generation migrants- from high TB burden countries. These findings suggest that local public health efforts should prioritize the identification of reactivations of remotely acquired latent TB rather than of new postarrival infections acquired in the host county through local transmission. Key messages City-specific data on TB incidence trends among native and foreign-born residents help understanding the wider interaction between migration and TB. To prevent TB incidents in congregate settings remotely acquired latent TB should be targeted.

Emigration of the Intelligentsia and Its Effects on the Socio-Economic Development of Zimbabwe

This paper discusses skills emigration of the intelligentsia and its effects on the socio-economic development of Zimbabwe. Skills flight has been a huge challenge to the developing countries and this has contributed much to their under development. Since the turn of the millennium, Zimbabwe has lost key skilled and talented people who left the country due to economic hardships. Several studies have shown that there are very high levels of emigration among the young and the very highly skilled people of Zimbabwe. Skills flight or brain drain is a very old phenomenon in human history and usually takes place for various reasons. Some of these reasons are social, economic and sometimes of a political nature. The aforementioned reasons either push people to leave or pull people if these are seen to be better in other countries. Globalization has also resulted in an increase of movement of people from one country to another. The world has become a global village with very little to separate countries. Skills flight has merits and demerits, and this paper will try to unpack these issues so that there is some clarity. While some schools of thought argue that the sending countries lose because of skills flight, it is not always the case because these people help in the development of their native countries by sending money back home (diaspora remittances) that is used for developmental projects and assist in improvement of foreign currency earnings for their countries. It also denies the remaining population the opportunity to benefit from their highly skilled compatriots (skills and knowledge transfer) who in most cases would have benefitted from state funding. However, for the host countries, they benefit by having the best brains who are usually very intelligent and have good leadership skills. These emigrants help to develop the economies of host counties. In some cases, there are tensions and conflict that arisen the host countries as a result of the skilled people who would have migrated to these countries, for example, there have been cases of xenophobic attacks on foreigners in South Africa, racism (in Europe), among other problems caused as a result of immigrant labour. It is argued in this paper that skills emigration in Zimbabwe has affected the performance of the Zimbabwe economy and development agenda.

Long-term mental health in unaccompanied refugee minors: pre- and post-flight predictors.

Unaccompanied refugee minors are a particularly vulnerable group. The aim of this study is to increase our knowledge about possible pathways to well-being and integration for unaccompanied refugee minors as they strive to establish new lives in a host county. The present study followed a group of youth who fled to Norway without their caregivers at three time points; 6months (n = 95; M age = 13.8, 80% boys), 2years (n = 78; M age = 16.5, 83% boys), and 5years (n = 47; M age 20.0, 83% boys) after arrival. Linear mixed effects models were used to assess whether age, gender, and trauma exposure prior to arrival were associated with levels and changes in symptoms of posttraumatic stress (PTS), depression, anxiety, and externalizing symptoms over time. Regression analyses were conducted to examine whether daily hassles, perceived social support, and new trauma experiences predict PTS, internalization, externalization, and somatization. The mean levels of depression had decreased significantly at 5years, but mean levels of anxiety, PTS, and externalizing symptoms did not. Females and severely trauma exposed had higher levels of symptoms. Higher age was associated with less change in symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress over time. Five years after arrival, many still experienced clinical levels of mental health problems, and level of daily hassles was an important predictor. Support may be needed not only at arrival to handle mental health problems in general and posttraumatic stress in particular, but also after resettlement. Help to manage daily hassles may be especially important to ensure well-being and integration.

Competing for Emerging Markets: A Resource Dependence Model of Foreign Market Entry Mode

Resource dependency theory (RDT) is one of the preeminent theories in strategic management. It has been utilized to enhance the study of MNE strategy (i.e. mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, etc.), boards of directors, corporate political activities, and stakeholder management; however, RDT has yet to be employed in theorizing about how multinationals assess the effect of the target host county’s dependence on the resources of the firm, the robustness of the political and business ties of the firm within the target market, and the strength of bilateral relations between the home and host government of the firm on the MNE’s foreign market entry mode choice. This notion, which I refer to as an MNE’s relative power vis-a-vis the target market, is of great import especially when attempting to enter emerging market economies with a network-based institutional environment (i.e. heavily predicated upon social relations and in- group affiliation). To this end, I draw upon the foreign market entry, political and business ties, and resource dependence literatures to propose a conceptual framework that examines how MNEs appraise their resource salience, political and business ties, and the bilateral relationship between their home and target host countries to determine the most optimal foreign entry mode strategy.