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Dear friends and colleagues,  

We are delighted to share the good news that the third issue of Global Strategy Journal for 2023 is available at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/20425805/2023/13/3. In it, you can find a set of articles comprising a Special Issue on complexity and multinationals. The issue opens with an essay by the Special Issue editors (Marcus Møller Larsen, Julian Birkinshaw, Yue Maggie Zhou, and Gabriel R.G. Benito) where they provide the background for the Special Issue and develop a simple organizing framework for complexity in global strategies, which they use to structure and discuss the research contributions included in the Special Issue. The special issue comprises six research articles, examining (1) how country contexts shape the complexity of firms' competitive repertoire (Steinberg, Hennig, Oehmichen, & Heigermoser), (2) the effect of complexity on the demand for generalists and specialists in executive selection (Vallone, Elia, & Greve), (3) the influence on firms' strategies in complex institutional environments by their need for formal and informal institutional legitimacy (Ma, Cui, Dong, & Liao), (4) the complexity of subsidiaries’ evolution in the era of value chain fine-slicing (Dzikowska, Gammelgaard, & Andersson), (5) the complexity of reorganizations after mergers and acquisitions (van Oorschot, Nujen, Solli-Sæther, & Mwesiumo), and (6) the strategic opportunities arising from complexity (Jonsson & Vahlne). Great articles that you should read! 

You can access the papers accepted but not yet published in an issue at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/20425805/0/0.  

We look forward to receiving your best work for consideration for publication.  

Best wishes,  

Gabriel R. G. Benito, Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra, and Grazia Santangelo 

Co-editors of Global Strategy Journal 

Complexity and multinationals 

Marcus M. Larsen, Julian Birkinshaw, Yue Maggie Zhou, Gabriel R. G. Benito 

The multinational corporation (MNC) is a typical example of a complex organization. In this essay, we employ an established body of literature on complexity in organizations to explore and discuss the nature and consequences of complexity for global strategy and MNCs. On that basis, we develop a simple organizing framework for complexity in global strategies emphasizing the source (external and internal complexity) and type (process and structural complexity) of complexity. We use this framework to structure and discuss the six research contributions in this Special Issue. We conclude by suggesting additional avenues of research on the interface between global strategy and complexity. 

How the country context shapes firms' competitive repertoire complexity 

Philip J. Steinberg, Jan C. Hennig, Jana Oehmichen, Judith Heigermoser 

Recent research has shown that firms' ability to employ complex competitive repertoires can create long-term competitive advantages. Since research on its determinants has focused on the firm level, we lack an understanding of how country-level factors impact firms' implementation of complex competitive repertoires. Our cross-country study addresses this gap by integrating a model of country-level competitiveness factors with insights from the literature on competitive dynamics and portable governance. We argue that a country context with high-quality competitiveness factors enables firms to implement complex competitive repertoires. In addition, we hypothesize that firms with foreign investors from countries with high-quality competitiveness factors can partially compensate for low-quality factors in firms' domestic context. We found support for our hypotheses in an unbalanced sample containing 1,340 firms from 32 countries. 

International environmental complexity and the demand for generalists and specialists in executive selection 

Tommaso Vallone, Stefano Elia, Peder Greve 

This study investigates the selection of generalists and specialists as an organizational response to the complexity of firms' international operations. Drawing on the concept of executive job demands, we identify institutional ambiguity and economic sophistication as two distinct sources of country environmental complexity resulting from a firm's foreign investment and predict how they affect the selection of new executives at multinational firms. Our hypotheses associate institutional ambiguity and economic sophistication with the appointment of executives with generalist and specialist backgrounds, respectively. We also examine how the two sources of environmental complexity interact and test multiple alternative specifications to enhance our understanding of environmental complexity as a determinant of executive job demands in the context of international business. Our empirical analyses are performed on a sample of 436 executive appointments occurring in 132 UK-based manufacturing firms, observed between 2008 and 2018. Findings show general support for our main hypotheses. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings as well as directions for future research. 

Government policy, filial piety, and foreign direct investment 

Pengcheng Ma, Lin Cui, Meitong Dong, Yi-Chuan Liao 

This study investigates formal institutional pressure from government policy, informal institutional pressure from filial piety, and their interaction effect on firms' internationalization strategy. We argue that, while influenced by independent policy and cultural effects, firms also exercise agency when responding to these competing institutional pressures. We find empirical support for the influence of policy and cultural effects on firms' foreign direct investment (FDI). We also find that, in making decisions about FDIs, state-owned enterprises are more sensitive to government policy, whereas family businesses are more sensitive to filial piety. 

Subsidiary capability and charter change: Making Birkinshaw and Hood's framework actionable 

Marlena Dzikowska, Jens Gammelgaard, Ulf Andersson 

We provide a more granular and comprehensive approach to subsidiary evolution and enhance the understanding of the complexity of the subsidiary's evolution in the era of value chain fine-slicing. We extend Birkinshaw and Hood's model of general processes of subsidiary evolution into a model of functional evolutionary paths that represents nine configurations of charter and capability changes. We examine initiative, autonomy, and track record as determinants of 1455 functional evolutionary paths identified in 266 subsidiaries operating in the Polish and Swiss manufacturing sectors. Through a two-level multinomial logistic regression model, we learn that subsidiary initiative and track record are positively related to an increase in subsidiaries' charter and capability enhancement, respectively. Subsidiary autonomy though, is negatively related to charter increase and capability enhancement. 

The complexity of post‐mergers and acquisitions reorganization: Integration and differentiation 

Kim E. van Oorschot, Bella B. Nujen, Hans Solli-Sæther, Deodat Edward Mwesiumo 

This article applies a mixed-method approach to explore the complexities of post-mergers and acquisitions (M&A) integration processes. Extant literature provides significant insights regarding the impact of task and human integration and their influence on post-integration processes. However, the literature often fails to differentiate between subelements of these two dimensions. This article investigates task and human integration in a cross-border M&A aimed at efficiency and innovativeness. We highlight the importance of a clear distinction between two subelements of task integration (product harmonization and structural integration) and show that different interorganizational contexts matter. Consequently, we propose a conceptual framework based on two contextual characteristics—source of synergy and choice of location—suggesting that different integration approaches should be applied simultaneously in different contexts of the same post-M&A organization. 

Complexity offering opportunity: Mutual learning between Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Volvo Cars in the post‐acquisition process 

Anna Jonsson, Jan-Erik Vahlne 

While much of the literature on complex global environments builds on studies of multinationals from mature markets, little is known about how firms from emerging markets understand and cope with complexity. This paper builds on a longitudinal case study of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH) in the post-acquisition process of Volvo Car Group (VCG) and its efforts to learn how to learn in order to catch up with the internationalization process as means for developing capabilities and compete in the global automotive industry. Building on the Uppsala model, we contribute with insights how an emerging market multinational understands complexity and organize the post-acquisition process to explicitly emphasize the importance of mutual learning to develop and exploit opportunities to improve the business.