Influential Article Review - Diversity in Upper Supervision Groups and External Foreign Direct Investment: Proof from Chinese Listed Companies

Abstract

This paper examines investments. We present insights from a highly influential paper. Here are the highlights from this paper: Drawing upon the knowledge-based view and team learning, we investigated how heterogeneity in top management teams (TMTs) in China influences global expansion strategies. Using panel data from Chinese listed firms from 2008 to 2014, we found that TMT functional background heterogeneity could positively affect firms’ commitment to outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), as the diversification of TMT members can enrich the team’s knowledge, facilitate efficient team learning, and enhance the decision-making capacity on overseas expansion. However, tenure heterogeneity may hinder knowledge acquisition and team learning among TMT members, hence undermining firms’ OFDI commitment. For our overseas readers, we then present the insights from this paper in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German.