Publication Type
Master Thesis
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
2010
Abstract
International expansion is a viable growth strategy for firms operating in an increasingly competitive business environment. Understanding the relationship between international expansion and firm performance has been a significant concern for theory development in the strategy and international business literature. The extant literature, however, has paid insufficient attention to the tradeoff between firm growth and profitability that may imply the existence of an optimal rate of growth. Drawing from the Penrosian perspective that emphasizes the role of resources in firm growth, this study investigates whether and how firm slack resources affect the tradeoff between international expansion and profitability. Specifically, this study argues that there is an inverted-U shaped curvilinear relationship between international expansion and firm profitability, and uses resource-based view and agency theories to hypothesize how human and financial slacks affect the relationship.
Keywords
organizational slack, international expansion, profitability
Degree Awarded
MSc in Management
Discipline
Business Administration, Management, and Operations | International Business | Organizational Behavior and Theory
Supervisor(s)
Young Rok Choi
Publisher
Singapore Management University
City or Country
Singapore
Citation
LIU, Anran.
Organizational Slack, International Expansion and Firm Profitability. (2010).
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/70
Copyright Owner and License
Author
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, International Business Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons