Virtual teams are geographically dispersed, requiring their members to collaborate virtually, i.e., through electronic means with minimal face-to-face interaction. Often, virtual teams consist of cross-functional members working on highly interdependent tasks and sharing responsibility for team outcomes.

Multinational corporations use global virtual teams as they are time and cost-effective allowing to use the best employees available globally for a given task. Furthermore, diversity in teams has found to increase creativity and performance. However, the virtual context and diversity of these teams also present some challenges.

Individuals tend to think in categories: one tries to identify with a certain social group and classify others into various social categories. A culturally diverse environment influences people’s categorization which can have negative effects on the functioning of multinational teams. This becomes particularly crucial in virtual teams, which cannot overcome categorization-based stereotyping through face-to-face encounters. In the absence of the possibility of having face-to-face meetings, global virtual teams rely on computer- mediated communication to coordinate their collaboration. To facilitate the choice between telephone, video conference, emails, chat, and integrated communication systems, several influential media choice theories have attempted to identify the optimal media for specific team tasks.

This Bachelor thesis should critically review the literature on the opportunities and challenges of global virtual teams and how to mitigate these.

References (preliminary):

Hambley, L. A., O’Neill, T. A. and Leine, T. J. B. 2007. Virtual team leadership: The effects of leadership style and communication medium on team interaction styles and outcomes, Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, 103(1), pp. 1-20.

Presbitero, A. and Toledano, L. S. 2018. Global team members’ performance and the roles of cross-cultural training, cultural intelligence, and contact intensity: the case of global teams in IT offshoring sector,  International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(14), pp. 2188-2208.

Tenzer, H. and Pudelko, M. 2016. Media choice in multilingual virtual teams, Journal of International Business Studies, 47(4), pp. 427-452.

Through the emergence of globalization and the new possibilities of mobility, influencing the way business is globally conducted, the topic of cosmopolitanism has recently obtained prominence in international business. Cosmopolitans are attributed with a high degree of openness towards other people, mobility and competence with a foreign culture. Additionally, cosmopolitans are said to have a high cultural intelligence and are equipped with a global mindset.

A multinational corporation is an organization which transcends its home country with their worldwide business activities and usually has subsidiaries in many different foreign countries. Multinational corporations presently face many challenges due to a changing environment. One group of employees might help them navigate these challenges by serving as boundary spanners or bridge makers in multinational teamwork, knowledge transfer, as global leaders or in negotiations.

This Bachelor thesis should critically review the literature on cosmopolitans and discuss in which way they present opportunities and challenges to multinational corporations.

References (preliminary):

Levy, O., Lee, H. J., Jonsen, K. and Peiperl, M.A. 2019. Transcultural brokerage: The role of cosmopolitans in bridging structural and cultural holes, Journal of Management, 45(2), pp. 417-450.

Skovgaard-Smith, I., and Poulfelt, F. 2018. Imagining ‘non-nationality’: Cosmopolitanism as a source of identity and belonging, Human Relations, 71(2), pp. 129-154.

Vogelgesang-Lester, G., Clapp, S.R., Yunlu, D. and James, A. 2019. Attention! Cosmopolitans ahead – They may not be as creative as they think!, Creativity & Innovation Management, 28(2), pp. 240-249.

The competitive advantage of a multinational corporation increasingly depends on its ability to promote worldwide learning and innovation. To exploit innovations, the knowledge developed in one location of the organization must be made available to other organizational entities at locations across the globe. This inherently complex process is impeded by the fact that multinational organizations are at the same time multilingual organizations.

Many top managers and scholars alike still see language as a neutral code which can be easily managed by introducing a common corporate language. Holding this “instrumental” view of language, they fail to recognize more implicit barriers of language differences for corporate knowledge transfer.

This Bachelor thesis should integrate the findings of this emerging research area by providing a structured overview of the multiple linguistic challenges to knowledge transfer in large multinationals. On this basis, recommendations for corporate language policies should be formulated.

References (preliminary):

Barner-Rasmussen, W. and Björkman, I. 2005. Surmounting interunit barriers: factors associated with interunit communication intensity in the multinational corporation, International Studies of Management and Organization, Special issue, 35(1), pp. 28-46.

Marschan-Piekkari, R., Welch, D.E. and Welch, L.S. 1999. In the shadow: the impact of language on structure, power and communication in the multinational, International Business Review, 8(4), pp. 421-40.

Welch, D.E. and Welch, L.S. 2008. The importance of language in international knowledge transfer, Management International Review, 48(3), pp. 339-360. 

Employees pursue global careers when they gain diversified, international work experience in several different countries across the world over a longer period of time. These global careers are a particular category of the boundaryless career, in which individuals move between jobs, firms, and countries. As such it is not so much characterizing any single career form, but rather a range of possible career forms which go against many traditional employment assumptions.

Literature still debates what global careerists value most in their careers and what influences their career decisions. Due to the challenging nature of their jobs, global careerists face a multitude of challenges, most notably work-family conflicts. Employing organizations must take this innovative form of career path into consideration and react to it.

This Bachelor thesis should critically review the literature on global careerists, providing an overview of their career decisions and challenges and how employing organizations react to this new career form.

References (preliminary):

Mäkelä, L and Suutari, V. 2011. Coping with work-family conflicts in the global career context, Thunderbird International Business Review, 53(3), pp. 365-375.

Näsholm, M.H. 2012. Global careerists’ identity construction: A narrative study of repeat expatriates and international itinerants, International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 5(4), pp. 804-812.

Suutari, V., Tornikoski, C. and Mäkelä, L. 2012. Career decision making of global careerists, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(16), pp. 3455-3478. 

Numerous studies investigated the internationalisation strategies of MNCs, specifically the implications of integration and responsiveness strategies.

However, most of these studies have adopted a predominantly Western or developed economy perspective, investigating the internationalisation strategies of American or European MNCs in high-growth regions (e.g. China), neglecting to consider reverse trends.

Considering the ever-increasing significance of Chinese MNCs, research started to focus on internationalisation practices of those Chinese MNCs in developed (e.g. Western) markets.
Dominance, country-of-origin and localisation effects, especially in their interaction with other aspects such as host-country context and industry sector, constitute particularly relevant aspects in the context of internationalisation strategies, specifically regarding the integration and responsiveness of MNCs.

This Bachelor thesis is targeted at critically analysing how internationalisation strategies, specifically regarding integration and responsiveness, of Chinese MNCs in Western economies are implemented.

References (preliminary):

Panibratov, A., and Klishevich, D. 2023. Emerging market state-owned multinationals: A review and implications for the state capitalism debate, Asian Business & Management, 22(1), pp. 84-117.

Pudelko, M. and Harzing, A.W. 2007. Country-of-origin, localization, or dominance effect? An empirical investigation of HRM practices in foreign subsidiaries, Human Resource Management, 46, pp. 535-559.

Zhong, W., Peng, J. and Liu C. 2013. Internationalization performance of Chinese multinational companies in the developed markets, Journal of Business Research, 66(12), pp. 2479-2484.

Zhu, J.S., Zhu, C.J. and De Cieri, H. 2014. Chinese MNCs’ preparation for host-country labor relations: An exploration of country-of-origin effect, Human Resource Management, 53, pp. 

It is widely recognized that knowledge transfer in multinational enterprises constitutes one of the most significant sources of competitive advantage. This holds especially true for the reverse knowledge transfer repatriates can provide.

As a component of the overall knowledge management activities of a MNC, reverse knowledge transfer is defined as the transfer of skills and competencies from the affiliates abroad to the headquarters in the home country. Though highly valuable, it is oftentimes overshadowed in company-wide knowledge development efforts by the counter-directional knowledge transmission from headquarters to subsidiaries within the framework of an expatriation assignment. Consequently, questions arise as to what the success factors, challenges, limitations and relevant contextual factors of this method of knowledge transfer through repatriates are.

This Bachelor thesis should critically review existing research on repatriate knowledge transfer and present suggestions for improvement.

References (preliminary):

Burmeister, A., Deller, J., Osland, J., Szkudlarek, B., Oddou, G., and Blakeney, R. 2015. The micro-processes during repatriate knowledge transfer: The repatriates’ perspective, Journal of Knowledge Management, 19(4), pp. 735-755.

Burmeister, A., Lazarova, M.B., and Deller, J. 2018. Repatriate knowledge transfer: Antecedents and boundary conditions of a dyadic process, Journal of World Business, 53(6), pp. 806-816.

Froese, F.J., Stoermer, S., Reiche, B.S. and Klar, S. 2021. Best of both worlds: How embeddedness fit in the host unit and the headquarters improve repatriate knowledge transfer, Journal of International Business Studies, 52(7), pp. 1331-1349.

Lazarova, M., and Tarique, I. 2005. Knowledge transfer upon repatriation, Journal of World Business, 40(4), pp. 361-373.

Liu, X., Lu, J., Filatotchev, I., Buck, T. and Wright, M. 2010. Returnee entrepreneurs, knowledge spillovers and innovation in high-tech firms in emerging economies, Journal of International Business Studies, 41(7), pp. 1183-1197.

Multinational teams have become more and more important for multinational companies due to their ability to integrate a variety of perspectives and skills. However, the cultural diversity between team members confronts these teams with a range of challenges. For example, they need to manage conflicts across members’ national cultural boundaries, deal with coordination and control issues, maintain communication richness, and develop and uphold team cohesiveness.

Multinational teams consist of team members and a team leader from diverse cultural backgrounds. Team leaders are supposed to have certain personal characteristics, such as openness and flexibility. They must address the challenges arising from a workforce of differing nationalities and cultural backgrounds.

This Bachelor thesis should critically review the literature on leadership, especially in the multinational team context and highlight the characteristics, skills and techniques a multinational team leader needs in order to successfully manage a multinational team.

References (preliminary):

Tröster, C. and Van-Knippenberg, D. 2012. Leader openness, nationality dissimilarity, and voice in multinational management teams, Journal of International Business Studies, 43(6), pp. 591-613.

Vogelgesang, G., Clapp-Smith, R. and Osland, J. 2014. The relationship between positive psychological capital and global mindset in the context of global leadership, Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 21(2), pp.165-178.

Zander, L., Mockaitis, A.I. and Butler, C.L. 2012. Leading global teams, Journal of World Business, 47(4), pp. 592-603.

Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs) follow own, culturally rooted ethical practices, which are predominantly relationship-oriented (particularism, collectivism). They often stand at odds with Western ethical principles, which are based on different cultural characteristics (e.g., universalism, individualism) and concepts of duty, impartiality, individual rights, and justice.

When Chinese MNCs globalize, they encounter a variety of ethical issues when dealing with business partners or local employees, in particular in Western countries. What is regarded in China as ethical behavior might be regarded as unethical in the West and vice versa. For example, the application of some Chinese business practices might be regarded ethically problematic in the West. By contrast, some business ethics concepts of Western origin, such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the reporting about a company’s social performance, are not well accepted and implemented by Chinese MNCs. This, however, entails problems, once Chinese MNCs internationalize into countries, where Western business ethics tools are more the norm.

This Bachelor thesis should critically review the literature on ethical aspects of the internationalization process of Chinese MNCs. On this basis, practical recommendations on how to address these issues should be developed.

References (preliminary):

Ardichvili, A., Jondle, D., and Kowske, B. 2010. Dimensions of ethical business cultures: comparing data from 13 countries of Europe, Asia, and the Americas, Human Resource Development International, 13(3), pp. 299-315.

Garcia, F., Mendez, D., Ellis, C. and Gautney, C. 2014. Cross-cultural, values and ethics differences and similarities between the US and Asian countries, Journal of Technology Management in China, 9(3), pp. 303-322.

Leung, T.K.P. 2004. A Chinese-United States joint venture business ethics model and its implications for multinational firms, International Journal of Management, 21(1), p. 58.

Provis, C. 2008. “Guanxi” and conflicts of interest, Journal of Business Ethics, 79(1/2), pp. 57-68.

Wright, P.C., Szeto, W.F. and Lee, S.K. 2003. Ethical perceptions in China: The reality of business ethics in an international context, Management Decision, 41(2), pp. 180-189.

One reason why multinational companies (MNCs) are established is their capacity to manage knowledge more effectively than the market mechanism. However, knowledge sharing across borders is a complex task, given the cultural differences between the geographically dispersed markets served by MNCs.

When MNCs expand to foreign markets, they need to adjust their management practices to the characteristics of local markets and local cultures in order to be competitive. Combining existing company practices with newly obtained local knowledge poses a particular challenge. At the same time, local knowledge may be shared internationally and might open new opportunities for the company. As MNCs are comprised of employees from different nationalities, culture and cultural differences can hinder and foster the knowledge sharing process as these individuals interact in the different stages of the process.

This Bachelor thesis should critically review the existing literatures on different types of knowledge sharing in MNCs and discuss the role of culture in the knowledge sharing process. The dissertation should give recommendations on how MNCs may establish effective mechanisms to motivate interunit knowledge sharing across borders.

References (preliminary):

Ardichvili, A., Maurer, M., Li, W., Wentling, T. and Stuedemann, R. 2006, Cultural influences on knowledge sharing through online communities of practice, Journal of Knowledge Management, 10(1), pp. 94-107.

Van-Wijk, R., Jansen, J.P. and Lyles, M.A. 2008. Inter- and intra-organizational knowledge transfer: A meta- analytic review and assessment of its antecedents and consequences, Journal of Management Studies,45(4), pp. 830-853.

Yongsun, P. and Choi, D. 2005. The shortcomings of a standardized global knowledge management system: The case study of Accenture, Academy of Management Executive, 19(2), pp. 81-84.

Organizational justice describes individuals’ or group’s perception of the fairness received from an organization. It has been extensively researched since perceived fairness is the foundation for many organizational success factors, including employees’ job satisfaction and their loyalty to the organization.

Most research on organizational justice has been conducted in Western settings. However, recent cross-cultural research indicates that the perception of fairness in Western and East Asian culture can be significantly different from each other.

This Bachelor thesis should review existing research on organizational justice and respectively fairness perceptions from both a Western and an East Asian perspective.

References (preliminary):

Blader, S., Chang, C. and Tylor, T. 2001. Procedural justice and retaliation in organizations: Comparing cross-nationally the importance of fair group processes, International Journal of Conflict Management, 12(4), pp. 295-311.

Bueechl, J. and Pudelko, M. 2017. Organizational justice perceptions and responsive behavior in a Chinese-German context, Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2017(1), p. 15944.

Li, A. and Cropanzano, R. 2009. Do East Asians respond more/less strongly to organizational justice than North Americans? A meta-analysis, Journal of Management Studies, 46(5), pp. 787-805.

Shao, R., Rupp, D.E., Skarlicki, D.P. and Jones, K.S. 2013. Employee justice across cultures: A meta-analytic review, Journal of Management, 39(1), pp. 263-301.

Research on expatriation has been a popular topic in international business for more than four decades. Given the increasing amount of expatriate assignments in an increasingly international business environment, the issue of how expatriates adjust to foreign cultures and perform in their jobs has become increasingly important.

One factor contributing to expatriate failure that has been discussed in the literature is spousal and family adjustment and conflict within the host country. The adjustment of the family and spouse can have a significant impact on the success of an international assignment and thus should not be neglected by organizations.

Another factor to consider is the willingness to go on an expatriation assignment as the demand for expatriates increases, but potential expatriates might show resistance to international assignments due to family concerns. In recent years literature has started to discuss dual career expatriates besides the traditional trailing spouses.

This Bachelor thesis should critically discuss the literature on the expatriate’s family and spouse, highlight the relevance family adjustment can have on the success of international assignments and what multinational enterprises can do to address this problem.

References (preliminary):

Caligiuri, P.M., Hyland, M.M., Joshi, A. and Bross, A.S. 1998. Testing a theoretical model for examining the relationship between family adjustment and expatriates' work adjustment, Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(4), pp. 598-614.

Känsälä, M., Mäkelä, L. and Suutari, V. 2015. Career coordination strategies among dual career expatriate couples, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(17), pp. 2187-2210.

Shaffer, M.A., Reiche, S., Dimitrova, M., Lazarova, M., Chen, S., Westman, M. and Wurtz, O. 2016. Work-and family-role adjustment of different types of global professionals: Scale development and validation, Journal of International Business Studies, 47(2), pp. 113-139.

Takeuchi, R., Seakhwa-Yun, R. and Tesluk, P.E. 2002. An examination of crossover and spillover effects of spousal and expatriate cross-cultural adjustment on expatriate outcomes, Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), pp. 655-666.

Research on expatriation has been a popular topic in international business for more than four decades. Given the increasing number of expatriate assignments in an increasingly international business environment, the issue of how expatriates adjust to foreign cultures and perform in their jobs has gained attention.

In this vein, cross-cultural research has increasingly investigated what happens to individuals who were raised and socialized in one cultural context before they re-establish their lives in another cultural context in line with their international assignment. The long-term psychological consequences of this process of adjustment are highly variable, depending on factors that reside in the society and working context of the country of origin, the society and working context of the host country, in the individual personality of the expatriate and phenomena that both exist prior to, and arise during, the course of adjustment.

This Bachelor thesis should critically review the literature on expatriate adjustment and outline its effects on expatriate success.

References (preliminary):

Hippler, T., Caligiuri, P. and Johnson, J. 2014. Revisiting the construct of expatriate adjustment, International Studies of Management & Organization, 44(3), pp. 8-24.

Mendenhall, M. and Oddou, G. 1985. The dimensions of expatriate acculturation: A review, Academy of Management Review, 10(1), pp. 39-47.

Shaffer, M.A., Harrison, D.A., and Gilley K.M. 1999. Dimensions, determinants, and differences in the expatriate adjustment process, Journal of International Business Studies, 30(3), pp. 557-581.