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Growth Frontiers in
International Business

Edited by Kevin Ibeh, Paz Estrella Tolentino,


Odile E.M. Janne, Xiaming Liu
The Academy of International Business
The Academy of International Business (UKI) Series is published in asso-
ciation with the UK and Ireland Chapter of the Academy of International
Business. This series covers the state of the art in international business research.
Published annually, these books are essential reading for anyone wishing to be
kept up-to-date with developments in the field. To order a complete set of all
titles in the series please order using the following ISBN: 0-333-96080-7

More information about this series at


http://www.springer.com/series/14246
Kevin Ibeh • Paz Estrella Tolentino • Odile E. M. Janne •
Xiaming Liu
Editors

Growth Frontiers in
International Business
Editors
Kevin Ibeh Odile E. M. Janne
Department of Management Department of Management
Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London
London, United Kingdom London, United Kingdom

Paz Estrella Tolentino Xiaming Liu


Department of Management Department of Management
Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London
London, United Kingdom London, United Kingdom

The Academy of International Business


ISBN 978-3-319-48850-9    ISBN 978-3-319-48851-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-48851-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017931595

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and the Author(s) 2017


This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the
whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or
information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does
not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective
laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are
believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors
give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions
that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps
and institutional affiliations.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature


The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
In Memory of Fred Burton
This book is dedicated to the memory of Fred Burton, who sadly passed away
during the first quarter of 2016. Fred was a previous Chair and staunch
supporter of the Academy of International Business UK Chapter, and his
generous service and contributions to the field of international business will
ensure that he continues to be treasured in our collective memories.
Foreword

The 43rd Academy of International Business UK and Ireland Chapter (AIB-


UKI) Conference was hosted by the Department of Management, Birkbeck,
University of London, on 7–9 April 2016, and this volume of the Palgrave
AIB Book Series contains a selection of some of the best sessions and papers
presented at the Conference.
The theme of the 2016 Conference was “International Business in a multi-­
speed global economy”, and the Conference programme stimulated discussion
and furthered debate about the role of international businesses and policies
in revitalising the faltering post-crisis multi-speed global economy. Professor
Pankaj Ghemawat of New York University and IESE and Robert Whyte of
the World Bank Group headlined the Conference’s Opening Plenary, while
Professor Julian Birkinshaw of the London Business School delivered a key-
note at the inaugural Founders’ Plenary, a new initiative introduced to honour
the Founding/Early Members & Past Chairs of AIB-­UKI. The Special Panels
also featured acclaimed professors and policy and industry speakers, notably
from the European Commission, Commonwealth Commission, House of
Lords and Banco Santander.
Closely related to the theme of the Conference, this volume is entitled
“Growth Frontiers in International Business”. Its 13 chapters are grouped
into four parts, specifically Policy Frontiers, Emerging Market Frontiers,
Innovative Pathways and Ethical Growth Avenues, each of which showcases
important growth domains in contemporary international business.
I hope you find this book to be interesting and useful. I also hope it encour-
ages you to get involved in the work of the Academy of International Business

vii
viii Foreword

United Kingdom & Ireland Chapter. The AIB UK & Ireland website (http://
www.aib-uki.org/) provides a wide range of information about the Chapter
and matters of interest to international business scholars.

Heinz Tüselmann
Chair, Academy of International Business, UK & Ireland Chapter
Acknowledgement

The Organising Team for the 43rd AIB UK & Ireland Conference would like
to acknowledge the unstinting support of colleagues from the Department of
Management at Birkbeck, University of London, particularly Rachel Dowle,
Dominic Funston, Teresa Howes and the PhD Help Team of Wenhui Huang,
Guilherme Macedo, Lida Metallinou, Yuanyuan Liu, Xiaojing Lu and Na
Yang.

ix
Contents

1 Introduction: Towards Advancing the Growth of International


Businesses and the Global Economy   1
Kevin Ibeh, Paz Estrella Tolentino, Odile E.M. Janne, and
Xiaming Liu

Part I Policy Frontiers   11

2 Instigating Start-Up Industries as a Foundation for


International High-­Growth Venturing  13
Tuija Mainela, Vesa Puhakka, and Sakari Sipola

3 SME Internationalization, Public Policy and the Growth


Agenda  33
Igor Kalinic and Jeremy Clegg

4 ‘After-Care’ Service Provision and Repeat Investment  47


Paul Kalfadellis and Susan Freeman

xi
xii Contents

Part II Emerging Market Frontiers   69

5 The Growth of Chinese Multinationals: A Micro–Macro,


FSA–CSA Framework  71
Yuxuan Tang and Robert Pearce

6 Business Groups from Emerging Markets: New Actors


in International Business 103
Ayse Coban

7 The Internationalization of New Russian Ventures: The


Institutional Frontier 121
Igor Laine and Olli Kuivalainen

Part III Innovation Pathways: Sectors, Knowledge Flows


and Entry Modes 143

8 The International Expansion of an Art Museum:


Guggenheim’s Global–Local Contexts 145
Tiina Ritvala, Rebecca Piekkari, Henrika Franck,
and Nina Granqvist

9 The Internationalization of Socially Oriented Organizations 167


Jie Chen, Sami Saarenketo, and Kaisu Puumalainen

10 International Knowledge Flows, Productivity and Growth:


Evidence from MNEs in the UK195
Gary Cook, Eugenia Shevtsova, Hans Lӧӧf, and Pardis
Nabavi Larijani

11 Noticing and Capturing Growth Opportunities in


International Markets: A Real Options Perspective   217
Ali Ahi and Olli Kuivalainen
Contents
   xiii

Part IV Ethical Growth Avenues    235

12 Civil and Political Liberties and FDI: An Evaluation of


Emerging and Developing Economies   237
Fragkiskos Filippaios, Fatima Annan-Diab, and Amir Hermidas

13 Pay Dispersion, Culture and Bank Performance257


Ellen Pei-yi Yu and Bac Van Luu

Index287
Notes on Contributors

Ali Ahi, B.Sc. Industrial Engineering and MSc. Industrial Management, is cur-
rently a doctoral candidate in International Business and Marketing at the School of
Business and Management at Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. His
research concerns foreign market entry mode and post-entry behaviour of the firm in
both advanced and emerging economies. Specifically, he aims to understand the
­decision-making process behind entry mode change, particularly in uncertain foreign
markets. Ali has been working to develop a holistic model of foreign market entry
which includes both the initial and post-entry phases, and he has focused on the real
options theory as the main theoretical lens for his research.
Fatima Annan-Diab, PhD is an Associate Professor and Associate Head of the
Department of Strategy, Marketing and Innovation, in the Faculty of Business and
Law, Kingston University London, UK. She has worked as Deputy Head for the
School of Strategy and Operation, and Course Director for the BA (Hons) in Business
Administration and BA (Hons) in Entrepreneurship and Management degrees. She
was a Network Liaison Director for the Business School. Fatima’s research interests
include the general area of strategy and international business. Her current focus is
on resource-based and internationalization theory for studying the influence of
industrial policy on location decision of firms in emerging economies.
Jie Chen is a doctoral student in International Marketing at the School of Business
and Management at Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. His primary
research interests are international business and entrepreneurship, with a special focus
on internationalization of socially oriented entrepreneurial ventures. Jie Chen can be
contacted at: jie.chen@lut.fi.
Jeremy Clegg is Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and International
Business Management and served as chair of the UK chapter of the Academy of
International Business (AIB) from 2001 to 2007, through the chapter’s transition to

xv
xvi Notes on Contributors

become the AIB UK & Ireland Chapter. He was the Vice-President for Administration
of the AIB, on the Academy’s Executive Board, from 2013 to 2016. His PhD in
Economics, awarded by the University of Reading, UK, jointly won the 1985 AIB
International Competition for Best PhD Thesis in International Business (now the
Peter J. Buckley and Mark Casson AIB Dissertation Award). In 2007, he received the
AIB President’s Award (now the John H. Dunning President’s Award) for his work
with the UK & Ireland Chapter. Since 1997, he has been a Jean Monnet Chair
holder (awarded by the European Commission). His research interests have branched
out from the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI), through FDI and
regional integration, the impact of foreign-owned firms on productivity and
performance in emerging economies, particularly China, to the interface between
international business and policy issues. In 2008/2009, he was a visiting fellow at
UNCTAD in Geneva. His research, which employs both quantitative and qualitative
methods, has been published in all of the major journals in international business.
Ayse Coban is a PhD candidate in Galatasaray University and Research Assistant in
Management at the Department of Political Sciences, Istanbul Medeniyet University,
Turkey. Her research interests are internationalization, emerging markets, foreign
direct investment and business groups. Before commencing her PhD studies, Ayse
worked in TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey)
as an Assistant Expert.
Gary Cook is a Professor of Economics and Head of Department (Economics,
Finance and Accounting) at the University of Liverpool Management School,
UK. He researches principally in the area of industrial clusters, innovation and inter-
nationalization strategy.
Fragkiskos Filippaios, PhD is a Reader in International Business at the Kent
Business School, University of Kent, UK. Previously, he was the Director for Graduate
Studies and Accreditations at Kent Business School, University of Kent. Fragkiskos
was awarded his PhD in 2004 by the Department of International and European
Economic Studies, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece. His
research interests include the location strategies of multinationals’ subsidiaries and
the role of technology in the multinational group. He also researches in the areas of
education management and development, with specific focus on the use of online
social networks.
Henrika Franck is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Management and Organization at
the Department of Management Studies, Aalto University School of Business,
Finland. Henrika’s research focuses on ethical issues and the action of employees in
the context of strategic/organisational change. Employing mainly field methodologies
and qualitative data, she examines individuals as agentic moral actors inside
organisations, particularly in teams. Her work has been published in Strategic
Management Journal, Scandinavian Journal of Management and in books and book
chapters.
Notes on Contributors
   xvii

Susan Freeman holds a PhD (Monash University) in international marketing/


international business. Her research focus is international business strategy, includ-
ing subsidiary and MNE headquarter assumed and assigned authority; early acceler-
ated internationalizing smaller firms; international entrepreneurship; services
internationalization; and emerging markets, with a particular interest in the Asian
region, and qualitative research. Susan is a Professor of International Business and
former Dean, Postgraduate and Professional Programs, at the University of South
Australia Business School. She is an Associate Director of the Australian Centre for
Asian Business; the Discipline Leader for the International Business Discipline,
UniSA Business School; and the Vice-President of the Australia New Zealand
International Business Association. Telephone: (618) 8302 7754; Email: susan.free-
man@unisa.edu.au.
Nina Granqvist is an Assistant Professor of Management at the Aalto University
School of Business, Finland. Nina Granqvist focuses on exploring the emergence of
novelty in fields and market categories. Her studies draw on multiple theoretical
frameworks, including institutional work, temporality, market categorisation, prac-
tices, language and affect. Empirically, she conducts qualitative grounded analyzes of
extensive datasets on emerging technologies, food trends and creative industries, to
name a few. Her research has been published in the leading journals, including
Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Management Studies
and Organization Studies.
Amir Hermidas, PhD is a Vice-President in Citi Financial Services responsible for
the economic and financial analysis of markets in which Citi has a presence. He is
also responsible for the econometric modelling of Citi’s secured and unsecured
portfolios and the economic and econometric analysis of portfolios across various
countries and provision of suitable stress factors. He obtained his PhD from Kingston
University London and has substantial consultancy experience.
Kevin Ibeh, PhD, F.C.I.M., F.R.S.A., is a Professor of Marketing and International
Business and Assistant Dean/Head of Department of Management at Birkbeck,
University of London. His recent research, mainly on firm internationalization and
international entrepreneurship, has appeared in the Journal of World Business,
International Business Review, Journal of Business Research, British Journal of
Management, Management International Review, Industrial Marketing Management,
International Small Business Journal, among others. Considered a leading authority
on African Multinationals, Kevin is Lead Series Editor of Palgrave Series on
Entrepreneurship in Africa. He has had recent consulting roles with the World Bank
Group, the OECD, among others, and has authored over a hundred scholarly papers
and edited three books, with another expected in 2017.
Odile E.M. Janne is a Lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London. She graduated
from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium, and holds MA and PhD
degrees from the University of Reading, UK. She has been a Research Fellow of the
xviii Notes on Contributors

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) at Shizuoka University, Japan, in
2005. Her research interests are in the fields of international business, geography and
innovation, including the strategies and innovation of multinational corporations,
the geography of innovation, subsidiaries’ strategies and the role and use of patents.
She has published in the Journal of International Management, Research Policy,
Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, among others.
Paul Kalfadellis, PhD is a Senior Lecturer with the Department of Management at
Monash University in Australia. Currently the Director of the Master of International
Business Program and an Associate Director of the European and EU Research
Centre at Monash University, Paul teaches at the post-graduate level in the area of
international business, cross-cultural communication and European studies. His
research interests focus on foreign direct investment (FDI), particularly inward FDI
into Australia, repeat investment and the politics of FDI. His work has appeared in a
range of academic journals and has been presented at a number of international
conferences. Paul can be reached at: paul.kalfadellis@monash.edu.
Igor Kalinic, PhD is a Marie Curie Fellow at the Centre for International Business,
Leeds University Business School. He also holds the position of Policy Officer at the
European Commission (on temporary leave). His research focus is on international
entrepreneurship and economic policies towards the entrepreneurial sector. He
earned his PhD in Industrial Engineering and Management at the University of
Padova, Italy, with a specialisation in International Entrepreneurship. He was an
Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) and researcher
at the University of Padova (Italy). During his academic career, he has held visiting
positions at King’s College London (UK), Darden School of Business (University of
Virginia, USA) and more recently at the University of Uppsala (Sweden), University
of Pavia (Italy) and Turku School of Economics (Finland). Before commencing his
academic career, Igor was a consultant to several governmental institutions and com-
panies regarding internationalization and globalisation processes, from which he
gathered substantial experience in international relations. He also worked on a num-
ber of EU-funded transnational projects.
Olli Kuivalainen, D.Sc. (Econ.) is a Professor in International Business and
Management at the University of Manchester (Alliance Manchester Business School,
UK) and in International Marketing and Entrepreneurship at School of Business and
Management of Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland). His expertise
covers broad areas of international business, entrepreneurship, marketing and
technology management and their interfaces. He has published in journals such as
Journal of World Business, Journal of International Marketing, International Business
Review, Technovation, International Marketing Review, International Journal of
Production Economics and Journal of International Entrepreneurship.
Igor Laine is a doctoral candidate at the School of Business and Management,
Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. He holds a Master’s degree in
Notes on Contributors
   xix

International Technology and Innovation Management from Graduate School of


Management, St. Petersburg University, Russia, and Lappeenranta University of
Technology, Finland. His main research interests include international entrepreneur-
ship and the role of institutional environment, new venture internationalization,
entrepreneurial decision-making and entrepreneurship in emerging economies, par-
ticularly in Russia.
Pardis Nabavi Larijani is a Researcher at the Centre for Excellence in Science and
Innovation Studies at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm and the Swedish
Entrepreneurship Forum. She researches principally in the area of the economics of
innovation.
Xiaming Liu is a Professor in International Business at the Department of
Management, Birkbeck, University of London. He holds a PhD from Strathclyde
University. His research interests include foreign direct investment, technology
spillover and emerging economies. His articles have appeared in Journal of International
Business Studies, Long Range Planning, International Business Review, among others.
Hans Lööf is a Professor of Economics at the Royal Institute of Technology,
Stockholm, Sweden. He is the Director of the Centre for Excellence in Science and
Innovation Studies. He researches principally in the areas of innovation, technology
and knowledge spillovers and agglomeration.
Bac Van Luu is the Head of Currency and Fixed income strategy in the Investment
Division at Russell Investments, London, UK. Previously, he was in the Allocation
Strategies Department at Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), Norway’s
Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Tuija Mainela is a Professor of International Business at the University of Oulu
Business School, Finland. Her main research interests relate to dynamics of business
networks, roles of social relationships in business, networking in internationalization
of firms and international entrepreneurship. On these topics she has published in
journals, such as International Journal of Management Reviews, Industrial Marketing
Management, Scandinavian Journal of Management, Management Decision, Journal of
Service Management and Journal of International Entrepreneurship.
Robert Pearce is a Professor in International Business and Emeritus in the John H
Dunning Centre for International Business at Henley Business School and the
Department of Economics at the University of Reading. His most recent books are
Multinationals in China–Business Strategy, Technology and Economic Development
(with Si Zhang) and The Strategic Development of Multinationals: Subsidiaries and
Innovation (with Marina Papanastassiou).
Rebecca Piekkari is a Professor of International Business at the Aalto University
School of Business, Finland. She is interested in how large and geographically
dispersed multinational corporations manage their global operations and diverse
xx Notes on Contributors

workforce. In recent years, she has conceptualised organisations as multilingual


communities. She also has a particular interest in the use of qualitative methods,
particularly the case study in organisation and management research. Her
methodological articles have been published in leading management journals, such as
the Academy of Management Review, Organizational Research Methods, Journal of
International Business Studies, International Journal of Management Reviews and
Industrial Marketing Management. She has also co-edited (with Catherine Welch) two
handbooks on qualitative methods for organisational research.
Vesa Puhakka is a Professor of Management at the University of Oulu Business
School, Finland. His research focuses mainly on international entrepreneurship,
opportunity creation processes, growth-generating mechanisms and strategy practices
of new ventures. His latest research on international entrepreneurship has been
published in International Journal of Management Reviews. His doctoral dissertation
received The Academy of Management and the NFIB Education Foundation award
for outstanding research in the fields of entrepreneurship and international business
in 2003.
Kaisu Puumalainen is a Professor in Technology Research at the School of Business
and Management at the Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. Her pri-
mary areas of research interest are innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability, stra-
tegic orientations and internationalization. She has published on these issues in
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, International Journal of Research in
Marketing, International Business Review, European Journal of Marketing and
Technovation, among others.
Tiina Ritvala is an Assistant Professor of International Business at the Aalto
University School of Business, Finland. She specialises in cross-sector collaboration
between corporations, nonprofits and governments in transnational contexts. Tiina’s
research intersects organisational theory, international business and social purpose.
Much of her research focuses on the contexts of high institutional complexity, such
as transnational environmental problems, emerging industries and the cultural field.
She has published in leading international management journals, including Academy
of Management Review, Industrial Marketing Management and Journal of Management
Studies.
Sami Saarenketo is a Professor in International Marketing at the School of Business
and Management in Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. His primary
areas of research interest are internationalization of the firm and international entre-
preneurship. He has published on these issues in Journal of World Business, Management
International Review, International Business Review, European Journal of Marketing
and Journal of International Entrepreneurship, among others.
Yevgeniya Shevtsova is a Lecturer in International Business at the University of
Liverpool Management School, UK. She researches principally in the areas of trade,
Notes on Contributors
   xxi

innovation and productivity. Current work includes the relationship between cluster-
ing, MNE location strategies and innovation.
Sakari Sipola is an Assistant Professor at the University of Oulu Business School,
Finland. His primary research areas relate to high-growth venturing on firm and
systemic levels, different forms of entrepreneurial finance, and related policies and
their evolution in a variety of different geographic contexts like Finland, Israel and
Silicon Valley.
Yuxuan Tang received her doctorate from the University of Reading in 2014 for
research on the operations of Chinese infrastructure MNEs in Africa. She is currently
pursuing post-doctoral research at Peking University in Beijing, China.
Paz Estrella Tolentino is a Lecturer in International Business at the School of
Business, Economics and Informatics, Birkbeck, University of London, UK. Her
research interests include the theory of the multinational enterprise, multinational
enterprises based in emerging markets, international business history and international
business strategy. She is the sole author of two books both published by Routledge,
Technological Innovation and Third World Multinational and Multinational
Corporations: Emergence and Evolution. Her doctoral thesis submitted to the University
of Reading received the 1989 Academy of International Business Richard N. Farmer
prize for the best PhD dissertation on International Business.
Ellen Pei-yi Yu, PhD is a Lecturer in Finance at Birkbeck, University of London.
Her current research interests include banking, ethical investment and cultural
differences. Her recent publications include papers in the Review of Quantitative
Finance and Accounting, Journal of Investing and the Journal of Fixed Income.
List of Figures

Fig. 2.1 The start-up industry as a context for the collective activity of
venture framing 18
Fig. 2.2 A timeline of key events in Israel 1960–2015 21
Fig. 2.3 High-growth venturing in a start-up industry 26
Fig. 7.1 An integrative model of entrepreneurial cognition 137
Fig. 8.1 Greimas’ actantial model (1983) applied to the Guggenheim
Foundation151
Fig. 8.2 Process of internationalization of the Guggenheim Foundation 154
Fig. 8.3 The number of new stories on the Guggenheim Museum
Helsinki in the local newspaper Helsingin Sanomat157
Fig. 8.4 Key actors in phase I versus phase II 161
Fig. 10.1 Geographic distribution of firms in the ORBIS database
by NUTS2 region 2003–2012 204
Fig. 10.2 Geographic distribution of NUTS2 regional employment
in the NOMIS database, 2011 205
Fig. 10.3 Geographic distribution of firms in knowledge-intense
producer service sectors in the ORBIS database, 2003–2012 206
Fig. 13.1 Developed Country banks’ Tobin’s Q 273
Fig. 13.2 Developed Country banks’ P/B ratio 273
Fig. 13.3 Civil Law countries banks’ P/B ratio 277
Fig. 13.4 Developing Country banks’ log (profit) 282

xxiii
List of Tables

Table 2.1 The primary empirical data of the study 20


Table 4.1 Frequencies and percentages of the characteristics
of MNE subsidiary respondents (N = 356)58
Table 4.2 Means, standard deviations and correlations
among the measures of variables 59
Table 4.3 Multiple regression analysis—‘after-care’ service
and repeat investment 60
Table 6.1 List of Turkish multinational companies (USD million) 113
Table 7.1 Russia’s World Bank Doing Business rankings
(out of 189 economies) 123
Table 7.2 Classification statistics (N = 213)126
Table 7.3 Entrepreneurial cognition in entrepreneurship
and internationalization 128
Table 7.4 Regulative institutions 130
Table 7.5 Normative institutions 131
Table 7.6 Institutional escapism 131
Table 9.1 Literature review on social value and social interventions 170
Table 9.2 List of home countries of socially oriented organizations
on the data set 177
Table 9.3 Eight types of social interventions 179
Table 9.4 Descriptive statistics of variablesa182
Table 9.5 Correlation matrix of five country-level measures
of strength of national institutions 183
Table 9.6 Results of binary logistic regression 184
Table 10.1 Summary statistics 203
Table 10.2 TFP growth, system GMM 209

xxv
xxvi List of Tables

Table 11.1 Description of the cases 226


Table 11.2 Summary of the propositions 230
Table 12.1 FDI projects included in the analysis 244
Table 12.2 Average political rights, civil liberties and institutional
quality of host locations (by investing country) 246
Table 12.3 Average political rights, civil liberties, gross enrolment
in education, jobs created and capital invested
between 2003 and 2013 247
Table 12.4 Definitions and sources of variables 248
Table 12.5 Summary statistics 249
Table 12.6 Regression analysis of the effect of political rights
and civil liberties suppression on FDI (dependent
variable is a logarithm of jobs created) 250
Table 13.1 Executive pay dispersion of our five groups of countries 266
Table 13.2 Definitions of variables in our model and their estimation
methods267
Table 13.3 Descriptive statistics of all variables (Currency: US dollar) 268
Table 13.4 Pay Dispersion vs. Culture Dimensions
for our five sub-sample banks 268
Table 13.5 Analyses on Tobin’s Q—“a group of Developed
Countries banks (63 banks)” 270
Table 13.6 Analyses on the P/B ratio—“a group of Developed
Countries banks (63 banks)” 271
Table 13.7 Analyses on the P/B ratio—“a group of Civil Law
countries banks (36 banks)” 275
Table 13.8 Analyses on the P/B ratio—“a group of Common Law
countries banks (27 banks)” 278
Table 13.9 Analyses on the log (profit)—“a group
of Developing Countries banks (29 banks)” 280
Table 13.10 Summary of empirical results 282
Table 13.11 Common Law vs. Civil Law countries 284
List of Appendices

Appendix 12.1 List of recipient countries 253


Appendix 12.2 Correlation Matrix 254

xxvii
1
Introduction: Towards Advancing
the Growth of International Businesses
and the Global Economy
Kevin Ibeh, Paz Estrella Tolentino, Odile E.M. Janne,
and Xiaming Liu

International businesses, as a collective grouping, have been among the stel-


lar performers of the post-crisis global economy. The upward trending world
merchandise and commercial services exports, largely stable global foreign
direct investment (FDI) flows (UNCTAD 2015) and rising average trans-
nationality indices for the top 100 non-financial transnational corporations
from developing and transition economies (UNCTAD 2014) all illustrate
this golden era of international enterprise. So is the heightened international-
ization and entrepreneurship of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs;
Coviello 2015; Zander et al. 2015). A number of factors might explain the
resilience of this economic sector.
The first is the typically masterful way in which international enterprises
leverage knowledge and act upon the divergent growth–opportunity–risk pro-
files offered by different geographies and sectors. The second is their ever-­
increasing capacity to deploy firm-specific advantages, including strategic and
operational capabilities, to pursue growth opportunities in national, regional
and global markets, including emerging frontiers. The third is their effective-
ness in managing complex, spatially dispersed and diverse business environ-
ments, value-laden networks and innovative hubs via a mixture of collaborative
and competitive strategies (Giroud and Mirza 2015; Chen et al. 2012). Other
reasons for the robust health of IB firms include the continuing emergence

K. Ibeh (*) • P.E. Tolentino • O.E.M. Janne • X. Liu


Department of Management, Birkbeck, University of London,
Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK

© The Author(s) 2017 1


K. Ibeh et al. (eds.), Growth Frontiers in International Business,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-48851-6_1
2 K. Ibeh et al.

of game-changing, globally marketed innovations and brands; expanding


digital internationalization and globalization; markedly rising outward FDI
from developing economies, which now account for the preponderance of
global outward FDI flows (UNCTAD 2015); increasing prevalence of stra-
tegic asset-­seeking M&As by developing economy multinationals (Mathews
2006; Chimanade and Rabelloti 2015; Yang et al. 2014); and deepening intra-
regional expansion of multinationals from developing regions, notably Latin
America and Africa (Ibeh 2015; Ramamurti and Singh 2009).
Despite the undoubted contributions of these actors, the global econ-
omy has continued to stutter, remaining at best in a multi-speed dial
(El-Erian 2014; Reuters 2014). This edited volume, a product of the 43rd
AIB-UKI Conference hosted by the Department of Management at Birkbeck,
University of London, on 7–9 April 2016, aims principally to capture
and document frontier ideas and reflections on avenues and strategies for
further advancing the growth of international enterprises and the global
economy. The title of this book, Growth Frontiers in International Business,
reflects the above-stated focus.
The term ‘Growth Frontiers’ is used here to encompass avenues, pathways
and opportunity triggers that offer potential sources of new radical and incre-
mental growth as well as value creation to international businesses and their
home and host economies. These sources may be internal1 or external2 to the
organization, or a mixture of both.3 The editors of this volume are pleased to
have received contributions, from a diverse cast of established and emergent
IB scholars, which richly reflect and illustrate the foregoing conceptualization
of IB growth frontiers. These contributions are grouped in four parts that
focus respectively on policy frontiers, emerging market frontiers, innovation
pathways and ethical growth avenues.
The four parts of the book and their constituent chapters are now discussed.

1
Internal growth frontiers refer to growth avenues emanating from organizational actions, notably strate-
gic initiatives, innovations, resource configurations or structural or cultural transformation that might
enable international businesses take better advantage of new market opportunities.
2
External growth frontiers include newly emerging economies, marketplaces, industries, radical innova-
tions or practices emanating from shifts or trends in the global, regional, technological, institutional or
socio-cultural environments, which international businesses might capitalize upon to grow further.
3
External–internal growth frontiers encompass opportunity platforms arising from organizational
responses to initiatives by national, regional, global institutions to address major global challenges,
including inter alia advancing human/equal rights and pay equity/fairness, and combatting climate
change and corporate abuses.
1 Introduction: Towards Advancing the Growth of International...
   3

Part I Policy Frontiers


Part I comprises contributions on growth-enhancing policy or institutional
mechanisms that support businesses to more actively pursue international
market opportunities or undertake FDI or re-investment. Chapters 2, 3 and
4 make up this section of the book.
Chapter 2 by Mainela, Puhakka and Sipola sets the tone by discussing
the confluence of private–public sector interests and institutional infrastruc-
ture that underpin and support start-up industries to undertake international
high-growth venturing. Drawing on a review of contextual influences on
international entrepreneurship, including the social setting in which inter-
national entrepreneurial behaviour is embedded, the authors develop a con-
ceptualization of a collective activity-based start-up industry for international
high-growth venturing. Subsequent empirical study of Israeli’s start-up indus-
try enables the explication of the contextual determinants of international
venturing in start-up industries and contributes to the understanding of start-
­up industries as a particular growth frontier in IB.
Kalinic and Clegg’s Chapter 3 picks up the growth narrative, by focusing
on one of the most prominent themes within the economic growth agenda
of the European Union, specifically the internationalization of SMEs and the
role of public policies and allied initiatives in facilitating this. Reflecting the
widespread appreciation of SMEs and entrepreneurial firms as quintessential
engines of economic growth, at national and international levels, many gov-
ernments are actively pursuing policies to support the internationalization of
their SMEs. Kalinic and Clegg argue that such support measures must, for
effectiveness sake, be underpinned by an appropriately identified and ‘proven’
internationalization theory (or theories). Pertinent theoretical insights should
influence how best to tackle firm-level gaps, for example, regarding avail-
ability and terms of finance, capacity-building, knowledge acquisition and
‘brand’ awareness. The chapter underlines the need for all internationalization
boosting measures to contribute to the ultimate objective of enhancing the
economic growth of focal economies.
Chapter 4 by Kalfadellis and Freeman continues on the theme of support
measures, specifically ‘after-care’ services provided by inward investment pro-
motion agencies (IIPAs) to attract repeat investment by multinational enter-
prises (MNEs). Such additions to stock of FDI represent an often-ignored,
but important growth avenue in IB. These authors argue that IIPAs need to
invest effort and resources, typically via ‘after-care’ service provision, in nur-
turing and ‘looking after’ established MNE operations within their sphere of
4 K. Ibeh et al.

interest, given evidence that these firms are likely to engage in repeat invest-
ment or upgrade operations in their existing foreign location(s). Based on
their study of the perceptions of foreign MNE subsidiaries in Australia, the
authors called on governments and their IIPAs to consider varying ‘after-care’
service provision according to the size and age of foreign subsidiaries. They
further posit that such differentiation of ‘after-care’ service provision might
help to generate growth-boosting repeat investment from larger MNEs as well
as SMEs and recently established foreign MNEs.

Emerging Market Frontiers


Part II assembles studies on emerging market firms, arguably the most promi-
nent growth symbols of the past few decades. The three constituent Chapters,
5, 6 and 7, examine the contemporary remarkable growth of international
businesses from newly emerging economies, now accounting for the prepon-
derance of global outward FDI flows.
Tang and Pearce’s Chapter 5 discusses the pervasive rise of Chinese and
other emerging market multinationals (EM-MNEs) associated with spectacu-
lar international growth levels. These authors acknowledge that the earlier-
than-­expected emergence of these firms as MNEs challenges established
thinking in IB theorizing, but argue for their accelerated internationalization
to be seen as integral to the processes of their home-country development, in
ways that were not relevant to the comparable growth of traditional ‘Western’
MNEs. The chapter, organized around a macro–micro, FSA–CSA framework,
suggests that at the macro-home country level, these countries’ development
not only generates resources (e.g., capital and foreign exchange) that can be
leveraged to support FDI, but also creates imbalances (resource shortages and
knowledge constraints) that provide motivations for FDI. This, at the micro
firm level, places EM-MNEs’ growth within the institutions of national devel-
opment and thereby indicates the need for relationship-building competences
to secure this position.
Chapter 6 by Coban explores Business Groups (BGs), another increasingly
important, internationally active organizational form originating mainly from
emerging economies. The chapter underlines the pivotal role of BGs, espe-
cially Turkish BGs, in internationalization activities in emerging economies
and examines the factors, including unique home-country environmental
characteristics, that influence their emergence and enable them to compete
with developed country MNEs.
1 Introduction: Towards Advancing the Growth of International...
   5

Chapter 7 by Laine and Kuivalainen examines institutional constraints


on the internationalization of new ventures in Russia, based on the premise
that re-engineering and upgrading the institutional environment in previous
command economies such as Russia might offer an important new frontier
for boosting new venture creation and entrepreneurial internationalization.
Drawing on interviews with entrepreneurs and government officials, specifi-
cally regarding their perceptions and experiences of the impact of Russian
institutional environment on entrepreneurial growth and internationaliza-
tion, the chapter illuminates and discusses critical impediments to the growth
and internationalization of new Russian ventures. The authors also offer
practical insights on how the internationalization of entrepreneurial ventures
might be facilitated through improvements in the institutional environment.

Innovation Pathways: Sectors, Knowledge Flows


and Entry Modes
Part III accommodates studies of emergent IB sectors whose relative newness
to internationalization opens up spaces for new international market actors
and offers additional IB growth opportunities. Also included here are chapters
on knowledge flows and entry mode options, which reportedly have positive
implications on growth at various levels. Each of the four chapters, 8, 9, 10
and 11, constituting this part of the book is now discussed.
Chapters 8 and 9 focus on a recently emerging internationalization growth
pathway, specifically the innovative expansion of socially oriented organiza-
tions and arts organizations into international markets. Ritvala, Piekkari,
Franck and Granqvist’s Chapter 8 draws on a qualitative study of the
Guggenheim Foundation to discuss the relatively recent opening of foreign
outposts by art museums, largely overlooked in IB research. Contending that
museums provide an interesting context to study how institutional complexity
shapes internationalization, and using an innovative narrative methodology,
the authors found the foundation’s internationalization process to be char-
acterized by unpredictability and complex political negotiations. They also
found that non-business actors had a powerful voice and that past interna-
tional market entries and heritage shaped subsequent moves. The next chap-
ter, by Jie, Saarenketo and Puumalainen, adds to the scant knowledge base
on internationalization of socially oriented organizations, by exploring three
potential determinants, specifically organizational form or relative economic
sustainability, social nature or type of interventions undertaken and home
6 K. Ibeh et al.

country’s institutional environment. Based on a data set of 271 socially ori-


ented organizations from 63 countries, these authors found that organizations
undertaking social interventions aimed at improving beneficiaries’ satisfaction
with employment opportunities and employment conditions were less likely
to be international than their counterparts that do not undertake such inter-
ventions. Socially oriented organizations that conduct social interventions to
improve beneficiaries’ satisfaction with formal and informal education, nat-
ural and communal environment, physical and mental health, or access to
physical resources such as clean water, energy and housing were found more
likely to be international than those that do not conduct such interventions.
The study also found that nonprofit organizations do not differ significantly
from social ventures in terms of likelihood of internationalization, and that
stronger and better-developed institutions in the home country facilitated the
internationalization of socially oriented organizations.
In Chapter 10, Cook, Shevtsova, Lööf and Larijani continue on the inno-
vation theme, by examining the impact of local and global external knowl-
edge on the productivity and innovativeness of MNEs located in various UK
regions. This study’s focus on productivity, measured as total factor productiv-
ity, is critically important as it is a driver of long-run growth, a major focus
of this book. The authors distinguish between high-technology and low-tech-
nology industries, use the global openness of regional industry and regional
economy as proxies for global knowledge flows and assess the effect of access
to complex and tacit knowledge on innovation. The study finds, inter alia,
that access to knowledge-intensive professional services had a generally posi-
tive and significant effect on productivity growth in domestic MNEs, but not
on patenting. The effects of openness to trade were also found to be generally
positive and sometimes significant for productivity growth.
Chapter 11 by Ahi and Kuivalainen draws on real options reasoning to
conceptualize firm entry mode choices as alternative investment opportuni-
ties with varying growth implications. As the authors argue, noticing and
later exercising shadow options offer potential growth opportunities to firms
entering international markets, depending, however, on the firm’s attention
structure and entrepreneurial orientation. The chapter attributes entrepre-
neurially orientated firms, with requisite internal capabilities and attention
structure, with greater likelihood of noticing and exercising effective shadow
options (or selecting more appropriate entry modes), hence achieving inter-
national market growth. Two illustrative practice-based examples are used by
the authors to further develop the arguments made in the chapter, which ends
with a discussion of its contribution to enhancing firm’s growth in uncertain
global markets.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
whether he has ever seen the dog, and, if so, he will probably know
who the owner is. And all this information comes at a glance!
The children love basking in the sand; and spend hours playing
with the glistening white and red drifts so plentiful in central and
northern Australia. Little mounds are built, upon which they sit to
defy the others to topple them; and oblong holes are scratched, into
which some of the younger are laid and almost completely covered
with sand. When the buried ones presently throw the sand from their
bodies, the rest of the players scamper off with a hullabaloo and tell
their elders the Kurdaitcha (devil-devil) is coming.
Along the north coast of Australia, the mud-banks of the tidal rivers
are a great source of amusement. When the water recedes during
the heat of day, the young folk make for the blue mud-banks to
indulge in sport and play. Mud-sliding is usually the first item of the
programme. Taking a long run over the firmer ground, the performers
reach the mud-bank with considerable velocity, and in consequence
of this, they slide over the slimy surface in much the same style as
our children in the Old Country do over the ice. They maintain their
balance with their arms. The sliding is effected either singly or in long
chains they form by joining hands. They endeavour to make their
slide reach the water, which, if they are successful, they enter with
no end of splashing and shrieking “Ai! Ai! Ai!”
Another method often tried is to run and then take the “slide” lying
upon chest and belly. As one is sliding this way, he turns his body
round its long axis and eventually disappears into the water. To the
observer a child sliding in this way looks deceptively like a stranded
dugong or other big fish endeavouring to make back to water.
Occasionally one of the sporters breaks the monotony of the game
by negotiating the “slide” with his stern. Or he may bring along a
small oblong sheet of bark, upon which he sits or kneels and propels
himself along with his foot. In modern language this toy might be
called a “mud-scooter.”
On Cambridge Gulf the girls have evolved yet another variety of
this sport. One lies flat on the mud, face downward, whilst another
stands behind her. The one lying now places her arms forwards and
holds the palms of her hands together; at the same time she bends
her legs to a rectangle in the knees, and keeping them together she
holds them rigid in that position. Now the girl standing behind seizes
the legs of the one on the mud at about the ankles and pushes the
human sleigh along the “slide.” As a special favour a piccaninny
might be allowed to take a seat upon the sliding girl’s back.
In the same district the boys delight in carrying each other pick-a-
back to the brink of the softest mud, to precipitate the rider
backwards into the slush or into the water.
To break the monotony, the children place themselves in a row,
each with a number of flattish pebbles previously collected on the dry
land, and take it turn about to pelt the surface of the water at a very
sharp angle in order to make the stone ricochet as many times as
possible.
A new game is begun by the girls stamping the water with their
feet, as at a corroboree; the boys are preparing for a sham-fight.
They cover the whole of their body, including the hair, with thick mud,
which they maintain is the same as the ochre the warriors apply to
their bodies when on the war-path. They pick sides and stand face to
face on a bank, about half a chain apart. Upon a given signal they
commence bombarding each other with mud-balls! One is reminded
of the snowballing feats of European school children. The lads
endeavour to dodge the mud-balls thrown by their adversaries with
as little movement as possible, by just contorting the figure or lifting a
limb to allow a missile to fly harmlessly by. Much gesticulation takes
place during the friendly combat, and often does one hear an excited
“Ai! Ai!” announcing the fact that a player has effected a narrow
escape. The climax, however, is not reached until a hit is recorded,
and a ball, too carefully aimed, spatters the body of a neglectful
opponent. When the game is over, all participants rest for a while
upon the surface of the muddy bank, then dive into the water and
wash the slush from their heated bodies.
At Kurrekapinnya Soakage in the Ayers Ranges the bare, inclined
surface of a granitic outcrop is utilized by the children for
tobogganing. The same track has been in use for so long that the
“slide” has become remarkably smooth from the constant wear. The
tobogganer gathers a bundle of rushes at the soakage and makes
for the top of the outcrop. There he places the bundle upon the
polished “slide,” sits upon it, and starts himself moving down the
slope. Considerable speed is attained by the time he reaches the
bottom of the rock, whence he shoots into the sand adjacent to it.
The performance is repeated over and over again.
The Victoria River tribes arrange competitions among the boys in
tree-climbing, the lads being required to clamber up a number of
selected trees, and down again, in the quickest time possible.
On Bathurst Island a favourite amusement of the younger folk on a
breezy day is to collect the light globular seed-heads of the “spring
rolling grass” (Spinifex hirsutis), that grow on every sandhill near the
coast, and take them to the beach to release them on the hardened
sand. Driven along by the wind, these seeds travel over the surface
at no mean pace. Allowing them to gain a fair start, the children bolt
after them, endeavouring to overtake them and pick them up from
the ground while dashing past at full speed in “cow-boy” fashion.
In the same locality the children assemble on the beach and
compete in running and long jumping.
The Arunndta and Dieri children collect the dry tussocks of the
“roly poly” (Salsola kali) upon a windy day and take them to a big
clay pan. There they liberate them, and, as the wind whips them over
the level ground, the youthful gang makes after them with toy spear
or boomerang, each endeavouring to either stake a tussock with the
first-named weapon or shatter it with the latter.
In the Fowler’s Bay district the tussock is replaced by an artificial
target, such as a ball of fur-string, which is rolled over the surface by
an elder.
The Arunndta boys on the Finke River cut discs out of the bark of
eucalyptus trees, which they roll over the hard ground and chase
with toy spears. In the same district I have seen the bark disc
replaced by an iron ring the boys had been given by a teamster; this
was carefully kept in one of the huts and only produced when the
lads were at liberty and felt inclined “to tilt at the ring.”

PLATE X

1. A juvenile “blonde,” Aluridja tribe.

2. Ponga-Ponga gin carrying pet opossum on her head while on the march.

A modification of the game was observed in the Humbert River


district, Northern Territory. Two parties, of about half-a-dozen each in
number, take up positions opposite each other and about a chain or
chain and a half apart. A circular piece of thick green bark is thrown
overarm by a member of one party swiftly towards the other, so that
it strikes the ground a little distance in front of the latter and rolls
along the ground past them. The waiting party stand in a row, with
their spears poised, and each in succession rushes forward to pierce
the rolling disc by hurling his missile at it. If one is successful the fact
is immediately announced by loud cheering. Then one of the party,
who have thrown, returns the disc in a similar way to the opposite
side whilst several of his fellows collect the spears for the next turn.
Thus the players are alternately “active” and “passive.” Special short
wooden spears are used, about five feet long, pointed at one end.
The disc is shaped out of an irregular piece of bark by biting off the
angular points until a more or less circular piece is obtained. Men
and youths play for hours at a time at this game, which they call
“gorri”; and even children are tolerated by them, although the last-
named are often growled at and told to keep out of the way (Plate
XIII, 1).
A kind of hand-ball is practised on Bathurst Island. The seeds of
the Zamia (Cycas media) take the place of a small ball. Two lads
stand facing each other and hit the seed to and fro with the palms of
their hands, after the style of a modern game of tennis. On the
Victoria River, the children made similar use of the green seed
capsules of the cotton-tree.
In the Meda district of north-western Australia, players at the same
game employed flat pieces of wood resembling cricket bats, the balls
being fashioned out of the woody fruits of the Pandanus.
Catch-ball is played by the children of all Australian tribes. The
“balls” might consist of anything; the Arunndta of the Finke River
country use the seeds of the Macrozamia Macdonnelli, the natives of
Melville and Bathurst Island Zamia and Pandanus seeds, the
Larrekiya of Port Darwin small bags stuffed with fur, the scrotum of a
kangaroo being often used for the purpose. It is surprising, however,
that despite the quickness of their eyes and the keenness of their
sight, the natives, as a rule, are very backward at catching with their
hands any object which is thrown at them.
The boys of the Arunndta and Aluridja tribes construct a small
cylindrical stick sharpened at both ends, which they lay on the
ground; then, with a longer stick held in the right hand, they strike
one end of it, to make it bounce into the air, and, as it rises, hit it with
considerable force. Competitions are held to see who can, by this
method, drive the small object farthest. The game is much the same
as our familiar “tip-cat.”
From Sunday Island I have already recorded a peculiar type of
throwing contest, which the girls were indulging in at the time of our
visit. Two rows of seven or eight each were standing a couple of
chains apart, and, whilst facing one another, were bombarding their
opponents with consolidated cakes of cow-dung. The missiles were
thrown with considerable skill, even by the smallest girls, due
allowance being made for the curvature in flight. It was part of the
game to dodge the flying bodies, and, whenever a hit was recorded,
a triumphant cheer would ring from the opposite side. In rushing
wildly about the space, the light calico skirts of the playing damsels
would fly high in the air, exposing their slender limbs beneath. In
their eagerness to hit, and avoid being hit, they repeatedly
exclaimed: “Arre minya, arre minya.” Some of the more experienced
throwers showed their proficiency by using flat slabs of stone in lieu
of the cakes of dung.
The games we generally refer to as “hide-and-seek” are known to
the tribes of Australia. In one game a number of persons hide behind
bushes and boulders and are sought by one or more children; in
another an article is hidden by one and looked for by the rest of the
party. The players endeavour to mislead the “seeker” by obliterating
their tracks and substituting them by all sorts of “back-to-front,”
“devil-devil,” and other deceptive tracks. When a “find” is made there
is a loud, jubilant cry; and the “hider,” unless he can escape in time,
is pommelled by the “seeker”; the players do not, however, run back
to a crease or “home,” as we do in the European game.
Once one considers toys supplied by adults for the special benefit
of children, the question resolves itself into an analysis of endless
possibilities of creation achieved by the happy combination of
inventive mimicry and lucid interpretation. It would be as futile to
attempt an exhaustive discussion upon so big a subject as it would
be to even try to describe all the artificial objects one classes as
toys, however crude they might appear, which are manufactured for
the purpose of entertaining and instructing the child. And, indeed, the
young folks themselves are neither idle nor behindhand in
augmenting the collection of playthings supplied by others.
Most of these articles are, however, made on the spur of an
impulse and serve their purpose just for the time being.
One of the favourite occupations of the children of all Australian
tribes is to build small brushwood shelters and wurlies for
themselves to sit and talk in like grown-ups. Occasionally they
occupy these miniature domiciles as “father and mother,” but more
often as “father” or “mother,” with a number of “children” to “look
after.”
When the “children” are not available as living playmates,
inanimate objects, such as stone, bits of wood, leaves and flowers,
are selected to take the “children’s” place. These receive names and
are placed in a row before the “foster parent,” who talks to them and
frequently changes them about. But the best part of the game is
when one of the “children” is supposed to misbehave itself, and in
consequence must receive a good flogging with a stick, kept handy
for that purpose. At other times one of the objects is taken up,
nursed, and spoken to most affectionately.
Here then we have the idea of the doll, simple though it be. But
after all, simplicity in method, so far as the training of children is
concerned, is perhaps the readiest means of stimulating the
imitative, and with it the creative, force which Nature has endowed
them with.
The doll is usually just a plain stick or stone, with perhaps some
distinguishing feature upon it, like a knob at one end which
represents the head. Occasionally it is painted with red ochre. Dr. W.
E. Roth found that on the Tully River in Queensland a forked stick is
chosen so as to permit the child fixing it on its neck like a mother
carrying her baby, with its lower limbs dangling over the shoulders.
Imaginary fireless cooking is also a pastime the little girls never
tire of. A shallow hole is scooped, into which a few handfuls of cold
ashes are thrown; this represents the fireplace. Upon the ashes is
laid a pebble, a leaf, or any other article which they make up their
minds to “cook.” Having covered it with sand in the orthodox way, the
girls sit and talk, whilst they make themselves believe the dish is in
course of preparation. They invite each other to the prospective
feast, each explaining what she is cooking; one might have a
wallaby, another a lizard, and still another a yam.
Quite apart from accompanying their mothers on the regular
hunting expeditions, the little boys often go out alone. They carry toy
weapons, with which they say they are going to slay a kangaroo or
anything else happening to come their way. In the Fitzroy River
district the young hunters collect, or cut out of a gum-tree butt,
several pieces of bark, dry or fresh, and shy these into the crown of
a boabab (Brachychiton Gregorii), hoping to fell a nut or two. If they
are successful, they proudly return to camp with their spoil and
obtain permission to roast it at the fireside. The small bark missiles
are looked upon by the boys as quite equivalent to the “kaili”
(boomerangs) of their fathers; and there is no doubt they can throw
them with greater skill. I have seen the little fellows stalk a flock of
foraging cockatoo and, when within range, fling several of the toy
weapons into the birds as they are rising; invariably one or two birds
are brought to fall.
PLATE XI

Rocking a child to sleep.

“On Sunday Island the bark food-carrier, there known as “oladda,” is used as a
cradle; one might often see a busy mother, attending to duties which occupy her
hands, putting her child to sleep by simultaneously rocking the receptacle
containing it with her foot.”

The trimmed stalks of bullrushes and reeds make excellent toy


spears, which are thrown with the heavier end pointing forwards and
the thinner end poised against the index finger of the right hand.
With these “weapons” the lads have both mock fights and mock
hunts. In the latter case, one or two of their number act the part of
either a hopping kangaroo or a strutting emu and, by clever
movements of the body, endeavour to evade the weapons of the
hunting gang.
One of the favourite pastimes of young and old among the Kukata
is to play at “emu.” The players take a stick, about three feet long,
and tie a bundle of grass, brushwood, or feathers to one end of it, to
represent the neck and the head. The performer clasps this stick
with both hands and holds it erect in front of him; then he bends his
body forwards from the hips, whilst other persons cover him with
skins, and tie a tussock of grass over his stern to indicate the tail.
The actor next begins to walk around, as truly as possible imitating
the actions of the bird he is representing. As he walks, he nods his
“head,” while some of the children scamper round him in great
excitement, others flee from him shrieking with terror. After a while
he stops short, turns his head and shakes his body, finally running
away in a zig-zag course. As he runs, he frequently imitates the
peculiar deep note of the old emu and occasionally the shrill
whistling cry of the young. A most amusing little incident, which I saw
in connection with this game, happened near Mount Eba. A man,
fully rigged as an emu, was entertaining the camp with some very
clever, bird-like antics, when suddenly a vicious mongrel darted at
the performer from a wurlie he was passing. The “emu,” without any
deliberation at all, dropped its head, scampered across the ground,
hotly pursued by the dog, and, in its terror, climbed the nearest tree.
The King Sound men construct miniature “kaili,” barely an inch in
length, and practically straight, which they project, before the
admiring eyes of their juvenile audience, by using their fingers only.
The little toy is held between the second and third phalanges of the
left index finger, so that a good half of its length projects above the
hand. The inner tip of the right index finger is pressed strongly
against the outer surface of the left thumb and suddenly allowed to
slip over the top edge and strike the projecting part of the toy. The
little slab of wood is jerked into the air, whirls through space in a
parabolic curve, and, when well managed, returns to the hand of the
projector. The children often try this feat, but, with the exception of a
rare fluke, never succeed; in fact, it is not every adult man who can
do it.
On Sunday Island, small models of the raft (“kaloa”), locally used,
are made for the children to play with. These toys are exact replicas
of the craft described in a subsequent chapter and are neatly
constructed in every detail.
A kind of dart is made by the children in the Northern Kimberleys
of Western Australia out of the root ends of grass seed-stalks, six to
eight inches long. These are held, one at a time, between the palms
of the hands parallel to, and between, the middle fingers, beyond
which they project but a fraction of an inch. In this position the hands
are turned so that the fingers point towards the body. Then taking
careful aim at an object, the child throws its hands vigorously
forwards, at the same instant opening them and shooting the dart in
the desired direction.
Among the Dieri, Yantowannta, and Ngameni, principally, and to a
less extent among the Arunndta, Aluridja, and Kukata, a playing stick
is found which is commonly known by the name of “kukerra.”
Although a toy, the men only were observed to use it, not only to
amuse the children, but for the benefit of the whole camp. The
kukerra is a slender, club-shaped stick made out of the Mulga. Its
length is about three feet six inches, of which the thickened end
occupies something like nine inches; the head, i.e. the swollen
portion, is up to an inch or slightly more in diameter, whilst the “stick”
is not thicker than an ordinary lead pencil; each end terminates in a
blunt point. The Dieri kukerras are lighter and more slender than the
Arunndta or Aluridja. The playing stick is seized at its thin end and,
swinging it with a straight arm, it is made to strike a bush or tussock
in front of the thrower; whence it bounds through the air in an
inclined position, and, after striking the ground, glides along the
surface in a snake-like manner.
Natives are fond of spinning any suitable objects which fall into
their hands; small pebbles, gall-nuts, and the larger varieties of
conical and bell-shaped eucalyptus fruits are all made to spin upon a
level surface just to amuse the children. The Yantowannta,
Wongkanguru, and other tribes of the Cooper Creek region are very
clever at moulding tops out of clay, with real pegs, upon which the
toys revolve. These tops are undoubtedly an indigenous invention.
The spinning is usually accomplished by rubbing the toy between the
palms of both hands.
Skipping is indulged in by little boys and girls alike. A long vine is
used by the Wogaits on the Daly River, which is swung to and fro like
a pendulum by two of the players, whilst others jump over the line as
it passes beneath them. The “rope” is not swung overhead.
At Engoordina, Arunndta children and women were noticed to
entertain the tribe by artful tricks with an endless piece of string. By
an intricate method of inter-looping and threading, a long cord, tied
together at its ends, so as to form a complete ring, is transformed
into different patterns of squares, triangles, and circles, the
composite groups of which are intended to represent different natural
objects. The string is held at different points, according to the
complexity of the design, by the fingers, toes, and mouth of the
performer; occasionally, indeed, the services of an assistant are
required to support the pattern whilst it is being constructed. The
more elaborate articles when completed resemble a loosely netted
or knitted fabric, the plainer are more after the style of a few loops or
meshes lightly held together. Some of the designs bear a
recognizable resemblance to the objects they are intended to
represent (e.g. birds, animals, men, etc.), others appear to be (to the
European at any rate) rather far-fetched. Very often a complicated-
looking design can be instantly reduced to the original piece of string
by simply pulling one of its component loops or ends.
Dr. W. E. Roth has very ably described a series of such figures,
made with one or two endless strings, which he found to be
commonly constructed throughout north Queensland, where the
tribes play a game resembling the European “cratch-cradle.”
Children are not allowed to attend many tribal ceremonies;
consequently one does not often see them with their bodies
decorated or ornamented. There are occasions, however, when their
presence is tolerated, such as, for instance, at receptions to relatives
who are returning from a fight or long hunting expedition. White earth
or kaolin is invariably used for beautifying the appearance, it being
maintained that it is unwise to apply much red, the token of blood, to
the body of one who has not sacrificed some of his blood during the
course of such ceremonies as will elevate him to the status of the
tribe’s manhood. The kaolin is applied in the form of a thick paste in
a series of thin lines. On Sunday Island these lines pass from the
centre of the shoulder, on either side, diagonally to and along the
breast-bone; and horizontally across the thighs and forearms. The
face has a smear of white straight down the nose, and two semi-
circular lines, which enclose the mouth and converge to a point
opposite the ear on either side. The child in addition wears a belt of
twisted human hair-string, from which pends a pearl shell ornament;
it might also carry a plume of white cockatoo feathers in its hair.
There are slight variations in the patterns and designs chosen for
child-decoration both in the same tribal group and among different
tribes, but no matter what part of Australia is considered, the effect
completed is decidedly less elaborate than the complex and ornate
colour schemes seen in the ceremonial displays of performing men.
The children take no active part in such proceedings, but usually
walk or stand about at points where they do not interfere with the
proceedings in general. There is no objection to the child carrying
one of the boomerangs of its father, but under no conditions is it
permitted to handle a spear-thrower.
Children are early accustomed to discipline and obedience. They
are not required to obey any but their individual fathers, tribal fathers,
and tribal uncles. They need not pay heed to the orders of their
contemporaries, but only to the word of such as they consider “grew
them,” that is, men of a previous generation to themselves. Women
need not be obeyed by law, but, with the knowledge and sanction of
a father, a mother can chastise and punish a child as much as she
pleases. The father reserves the right to interfere at any moment.
The little girls accompany their mothers whenever collecting
rambles are undertaken. They receive instructions in the methods of
locating and gathering grubs, lizards, seeds, and roots; and during
this time they are required to daily handle the yam-stick in the correct
manner as shown them by their seniors. Subsequently they are
taught how to clean, cook, and prepare the meals to be placed
before the men.
The boys are early in life schooled in the practices of carpentry, so
far as they are applied to the making and shaping of domestic
utensils and weapons with the few crude implements at their
disposal.
Further, they are instructed in the knacks and arts of handling and
throwing weapons of chase, attack, and defence. The lads take to
this instruction enthusiastically. For instance, whilst being taught the
art of boomerang-throwing, one might daily see a youngster, even in
the absence of his master, posing in the attitude demonstrated to
him, without actually letting the piece of wood, which answers the
purpose of a weapon, go out of his hand (Plate XIV, 1).
Boys are not allowed to handle real boomerangs, spears, or
shields before they have undergone the first initiation ceremony. If
they did so, the offence would be looked upon as an insult to the
dignity of the men who have qualified and are thus entitled to the
privilege of carrying such weapons on parade. The offence is in fact,
on a point of decorum, similar to the case of a fellow in the “rank and
file” wearing the sword or insignia of his superior officer.
When, at a later stage, the elder boys of the Northern Kimberleys
of Western Australia become well-skilled in throwing, sham-fights are
arranged. Pieces of bark are broken from the mangroves, out of
which the combatants make missiles resembling straight
boomerangs. Sides are picked under the supervision of the men and
the signal given to start. In a moment the air becomes alive with the
whirr and buzz of the flying pieces of wood, which the youths throw
straight at one another. Often severe gashes and wounds are
inflicted upon the bodies of the “fighters,” but such are taken in good
faith and looked upon as being part of the game.
As a means of self-defence and protection against such throwing-
sticks and the small toy-spears previously mentioned, the Arunndta
construct for their boys light bark shields. A piece of green bark is cut
out of the butt of a eucalyptus, oblong-oval in shape and about two
feet long and six inches wide. Two holes are cut in the central line of
this piece, about six inches from either end, and through them two or
three fairly stout, green twigs are stuck, from the under, concave
surface, to form a handle. The points of these twigs stick out from
the top surface, some two inches, but they are left to prevent the
ends of the handle from slipping out. The bark is then bent in the
required shield-shape and dried over a slow fire or in hot ashes
(Plate XIV, 1).
The girls, too, are encouraged to indulge in stick-practice to
prepare them for the “kutturu” duels they will have to take part in, in
later years. The principal mark is the foot, which each alternately
tries to strike, while the other is “on guard” with her stick. At other
times they stand face to face, with the palms of their hands pressed
tightly together. Presently one voluntarily bows her head, when the
other immediately gives her a severe crack over the scalp with the
small finger side of her hands. Then the other has a turn; and the
process may be repeated. The object of this strange procedure is to
“harden” the head in anticipation of the real blows it will receive in
time to come. To make the performance appear genuine, the girl,
whose turn it is to strike, may be heard to feign a curse: “Atutnia,
arrelinjerrai!”
The child’s mind is early imbued with the importance of hardening
the body and nerve against pain, and thereby making the system
less susceptible to the hardships of life, which they know to be
inevitable.
The system of personal mutilation, described in a subsequent
chapter, has to a certain extent been evolved for a similar reason.
Camp life brings many little accidents with it, but the Spartan
principles which are cultivated lead to an almost complete ignorance
of the existence of pain as might be brought about by small cuts or
burns. Just for the sake of competitive amusement, the boys of the
Kukata tribe take a live coal from the fire and lay it upon the naked
skin of their forearm. A red-hot coal, about the size of a pea, is
usually selected for the purpose and momentarily “cooled” or
“blackened” by covering it with a handful of sand. The black coal is
then placed upon the forearm at any suitable spot and touched with
the red-hot point of a firestick. The coal on the arm immediately turns
red again and in that condition is allowed to remain there until it falls
to white ash. The first effect is naturally to raise a blister, but this is
soon burnt through and the raw skin is exposed, upon which the coal
gently fizzles. Whilst this is going on, the boy is seen to bite his lips
together and to clinch the fist of the suffering arm, as if to suppress
the pain. The lesion will, of course, leave a permanent scar. Some of
the lads have many of such marks upon both arms, and they seem
quite proud of them.
In the camps of any of the tribal groups throughout Australia, who
are still enjoying an uncontaminated life, one might see captive birds
and animals temporarily tethered or kept for the amusement of
children. Such are usually brought home by the men returning from
their hunting expeditions. A young wallaby, for instance, is let go on
an open flat and all the children set after it. They are not allowed to
hurl stones or sticks after the fleeing game, but must retake it alive
by the use of their hands only. Although it is against the rules to
harm a captured animal, it is a curious circumstance that a native,
even if grown up, invariably forgets to feed it, although entertaining
the idea of keeping it alive. Occasionally, however, it happens that a
creature survives and looks after its own needs; in this case the
animal or bird becomes a real pet and is not made the object of
children’s coursing matches any more.
The King Sound natives catch the small ring-tailed opossums,
which live in the mangroves, and hand them to their children. The
Ponga-Ponga gins become very attached to these marsupial pets,
which they carry about with them on their days’ outings planted in
the locks of their hair. The opossums seem quite contented to abide
there whilst their mistresses are on the march and hang on by
means of their claws and tail (Plate X, 2). Occasionally one might
even see an affectionate gin suckling her pet at her breast.
On Sunday Island several cockatoos were kept by a fishing party
in their camp not far from shore. The birds had their flight feathers
pulled and were allowed to roam about the country in search of food.
The cockatoos seemed to regard the huts as their home, to which
they invariably returned; they had, moreover, picked up many
phrases of the aboriginal tongue.
Although the native animals and birds of Australia have always
been, and still are, the daily object of aboriginal chase, it is a
remarkable fact that great friendships are made between the hunter
and his would-be prey when the latter is in captivity. Indeed, the
instinctive fear of an animal or bird is ever so much greater when a
white man approaches than when a native does. I have seen cases
where semi-wild cockatoos, magpies, and other birds have allowed
themselves to be handled by natives without much concern, but the
moment a European attempted to do likewise, the bird would
become unmanageable, terrified, and vicious. Partly domesticated
birds seem to have a predilection for perching themselves upon the
legs of their native masters when the latter are sitting or lying on the
ground. Talking of instinct reminds me of the occasions I took
aborigines to the Zoological Gardens to see the favourite attraction,
viz. the “monkey-wurlie.” Whilst European visitors were coming and
going, the apes would appear unconcerned, phlegmatic, and blasé;
but the moment the dark-skinned people arrived, the animals would
instantly become electrified and bounce towards the iron bars, which
they seized and shook frantically. The natives, on the other hand,
would evince no fear, but endeavoured to edge as close as possible
to the monkeys, although they had never seen one before. The
monkeys, in appreciation of the coloured visitors’ benignity, would
grin, wink their eyes, and make guttural noises.
At the time of my visit to the Forrest River Mission Station, a
tethered monkey was kept on the premises. The natives regarded it
as a real “little man,” and many of them, especially the children, were
on excellent terms with it, but this could not be said of some of the
old men. The monkey and the children were inseparable, and usually
at play; but occasionally disputes arose which always ended in an
open tussle, during which hands, teeth, and finger-nails were used.
Although young humanity did not always fare best, the monkey
would never take a mean advantage nor resort to extreme tactics.
When it found itself victorious, it would jump triumphantly on to its
perch and cry “Arre Arre.”
CHAPTER XII
THE DAY’S MARCH

Orders of the day—Selection of camp site—Feminine water carriers—Great


variety of bark vessels—Skin water-bag—Bailers and drinking cups—Natural
water supplies—Water-bearing trees—Modes of drinking.

“When another sun will come, and when he is still a piccaninny,


Punya umberri (everybody) will walk to the big stone (hill), lying in
the gum-trees, where Kuddoguddogu (a landmark) holds up the
clouds of the Pindanol’s country. Narrawiddi and Wetninnya will carry
my angamma (bark-wrap with small personal belongings), and all
other women will take many naramarragam (bark food-carriers) and
fill them with yams on the way. Plenty water sits upon the ground.
The men will run the kangaroo’s track with me.”
Upon an order like this from one of the old men, the following
day’s itinerary is cast. Brief though it seems, it is sufficient because,
although the chances of the coming expedition might widely
separate the members of the group, they keep in constant touch with
each other by signs and signals best known to themselves.
The site for a camping ground is thus always selected by one of
the old men in authority. Preference is given, other things being
equal, to a spot near to a natural water supply. There are, of course,
numerous occasions when there is no water available. When, for
instance, the natives are hunting in the sandhills during a good
season, they either carry water with them for miles, or rely on the
succulent parakylia and other water-holding plants.
It falls to the lot of the women to carry water upon such occasions.
The fluid is contained in bark carriers of different designs, which they
either skilfully balance upon their heads or carry under their arms.
The water is kept from splashing over the sides, in the first place by
the naturally graceful gait of the women; but, at the same time, an
intentional addition of twigs and branchlets further checks any undue
movement of the fluid which might be produced in the vessel during
the march.
The Dieri, Yantowannta, Ngameni, Arunndta, Aluridja,
Wongapitcha, and other central Australian tribes use shield or
trough-shaped carriers cut out of the bark of the eucalyptus, shaped
and hardened over the fire. The shield type is flat, with more or less
open ends; the trough type has higher sides and ends, and is
therefore more capacious. There is, however, no hard and fast
division between the two. The surfaces of these are either smooth or
longitudinally grooved with a stone scraper. The largest were
observed on Cooper’s Creek, measuring three feet in length, one
foot in width, and five inches in depth, while those of the Arunndta
and Aluridja are not quite so long and wide, but they may be deeper.
The utensils go by different names, according to tribe and locality;
three of the most commonly heard are “mika,” “pitchi,” and
“cooleman.” In addition to taking the place of water-holders, they are
also used as food-carriers.
North of the MacDonnell Ranges, similar articles are cut out of
solid wood, usually the Northern Territory Beantree (Erythrina
vespertilio).
The Warramunga and Kaitish (or Kaitidji) tribes in addition make
large canoe-shaped carriers out of similar material. Two varieties are
met with. The first is more or less flat-bottomed with steeply inclined
sides coming to a sharp edge at each end; the second is uniformly
curved, shield-like, with all its sides standing at about the same level
at the open end. The former is grooved longitudinally on the outside
surface only, the inside being left in the rough; the latter is finely
grooved on the inner, as well as the outer surfaces. Both types are
generally painted over with red ochre. It is a decidedly laborious job
to remove the wood, which originally fills the inside of this carrier, a
fact which will be realized when one considers that it has all to be
done by burning with live coals, and gouging and scraping with stone
implements.
The Sunday Islanders take a rectangular sheet of bark of the
woolly-butt eucalyptus, fold both ends for a distance of three or four
inches, into pleats (like a concertina), and stitch them together with
split cane. The utensil is used throughout the north-west coast as far
as Cambridge Gulf.
On Bathurst and Melville Islands similar structures are made out of
the bark of the paper-bark tree (Melaleuca). An oblong piece is bent
upon itself lengthwise, both its ends folded, as in the previous case,
and kept together by binding with cane or by spiking with short
wooden pegs.
The same pattern, slightly modified here and there, is found along
the shores and islands of the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Cape York
Peninsula. We might say, therefore, that it occurs throughout the
entire length of the north coast of Australia.
Another type, perhaps more food than water-carrier, is common on
Melville and Bathurst Islands; it is made of a single piece of the
“stringy-bark” eucalypt. An oblong sheet, say a good yard long and
nearly half as wide, is freshly cut and folded transversely at its
centre. The edges of both sides are pared down, laid flat, one over
the other, and sewn or laced together with plain or “run-on” stitches.
A row of slanting and overlapping stitches is often inserted along the
open edge a short distance down; and occasionally part of the same
edge may be cross-hemstitched and plastered with beeswax; the
object of these stitches is to prevent the bark tearing along the fibres.
The mouth of the carrier is nearly circular, or at any rate oval.
Ordinarily the bark is left in its raw condition, but upon special
occasions elaborate designs, consisting of circles, and other figures,
with cross-hatched line-patterns, are drawn on the outer surfaces in
red, yellow, white, and black.
An article is in use locally among the Worora at Port George IV,
which perhaps interests us most on account of its similarity to the
orthodox water-carrier employed by ourselves, viz. the bucket. What
makes the fact more interesting still is that this unique type of water-
vessel is found in a locality, than which even at the present time
none other is further remote from civilization. The bark-bucket of the

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