Climbing up vs. Climbing down the Institutional Ladder
Mon, 06 Mar 2017 12:03:00 GMT
The Business School’s Strategy and International Business Research Group (SIB) heard Dr Palitha Konara from University of Huddersfield present his research on "Institutional Distance and Subsidiary Performance: Climbing up vs. Climbing down the Institutional Ladder".
Palitha is a Senior Lecturer in International Business and manages the MSc International Business suite of programmes (MSc International Business Management and MSc International Business with Financial Services). He joined the University of Huddersfield Business School in September 2013. Prior to joining the University of Huddersfield, Palitha taught at University of York while studying for his PhD. His doctoral thesis investigated determinants and impact of Foreign Direct Investment in the context of Sri Lanka.
After completing a Master of Research Degree in International Business from Lancaster University Management School in 2011, Palitha joined the York Management School to read for a PhD. He received the York Management School Scholarship and served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the international Business and strategy group at York Management School. Under this engagement, Palitha has taught on modules in both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He is a Fellow of Higher Education Academy.
Palitha’s academic credentials include an MRes in International Business, an MBA specialised in Banking and Finance, a B.Sc. Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, and a Bachelor of Information Technology Degree. Moreover, he is professionally qualified in Management Accounting (CIMA, UK), Marketing (CIM, UK) and Insurance (CII, UK). He is also a Fellow Member of Insurance Institute of India.
Palitha says: "In this paper, we investigate the possibility of institutional distance exerting an asymmetric effect on Multinational Corporations’ subsidiary performance depending on the direction of institutional distance. We use the term ‘institutional ladder’ to differentiate between upward distance, referred to as when the subsidiary is operating in a relatively stronger institutional environment than its parent-firm’s home country, and downward distance for vice versa. Using institutional theory and organisational imprinting and learning perspectives, we argue that upward institutional distance is negatively associated with subsidiary performance, whereas downward institutional distance is positively associated with subsidiary performance. Upon analysing our panel data-set of 2199 foreign subsidiaries representing 73 host countries and 71 home countries and spanning the 12 year period: 2002 – 2013, we find support for our arguments. We also find that subsidiary ownership strategies – i.e. the choice of a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) versus joint venture (JV) – moderates this relationship".
Professor John Anchor, Professor of International Strategy, says "It was a great pleasure to hear Palitha’s thought provoking presentation. This work is novel and that is one of the reasons why Palitha received the Best Paper award at the European Association of International Business December 2016 conference. I am looking forward to reading a journal article on the same topic".
