Skip to main content
Log in

The dynamics of Japanese firm growth in U.S. Industries: The Penrose effect

  • Published:
Management International Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract and Key Results

  • This paper proposes that multinational firms that are more capable in developing new managerial resources are less vulnerable to the Penrose effect in the process of international expansion.

  • We hypothesize that firms were more capable to achieve growth in consecutive time periods when they send more expatriates to the local operations and when they have greater home experience before entering into the local market.

  • The empirical results based on a sample of Japanese investments in the United States support our arguments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abegglen, J.C./ Stalk Jr., G., Kaisha, The Japanese Corporation, New York: Basic Books 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aiken, L. S./ West, S. G., Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions, London: Sage 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barney, J. B., Strategic Factor Markets: Expectations, Luck and Business Strategy, Management Science, 32,10, 1986, pp. 1231–1241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G. S., Human Capital, New York: National Bureau of Economic Research 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beechler S./ Yang, J. Z., The Transfer of Japanese-Style Management to American Subsidiaries: Contingencies, Constraints, and Competencies, Journal of International Business Studies, 25,3, 1994, pp. 467–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, S. J., International Expansion Strategy of Japanese Firms: Capabilities Building through Sequential Entry, Academy of Management Journal, 38,2, 1995, pp. 383–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, S. J./ Rosenzweig, P., The Choice of Entry Mode in Sequential Foreign Direct Investment, Strategic Management Journal, 22,8, 2001, pp: 747–776.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cyert, R. M./ March, J. G., A Behavioral Theory of the Firm, Englewood, Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall 1963.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dierickx, I./ Cool, K., Asset Stock Accumulation and Sustainability of Competitive Advantage, Management Science, 35,12, 1989, pp. 1504–1511.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edström, A./ Galbraith, J. R., Transfer of Managers as a Coordination and Control Strategy in Multinational Corporations, Administrative Science Quarterly, 22,2, 1977, pp. 248–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenhardt, K. M., Control: Organizational and Economic Approaches, Management Science, 31,2, 1985, pp. 134–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gander, J. P., Managerial Intensity, Firm Size and Growth, Managerial and Decision Economics, 12,3, 1991, pp.261–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay, D. A./ Morris, D. J., Industrial Economics and Organization: Theory and Evidence, New York: Oxford University Press 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hennart, J.-F., Control in Multinational Firms: The Role of Price and Hierarchy, Management International Review, 31,4, 1991, pp. 71–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hitt, M. A./ Hoskisson, R. E./ Kim, H., International Diversification: Effects on Innovation and Firm Performance in Product-Diversified Firms, Academy of Management Journal, 40,4, 1997, pp. 767–798.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huber, G. P., Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures, Organization Science, 2,1, 1991, pp. 88–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Japan Economic Institute of America (ed.), Japan’s Expanding Manufacturing Presence in the United States: A Profile, Washington, D.C.: Japan Economic Institute of America, Various years.

  • Jovanovic, B., Selection and Evolution of Industry, Econometrica, 50,3, 1982, pp. 649–670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kor Y. Y./ Mahoney, J. T., Penrose’s Resource-Based Approach: The Process and Product of Research Creativity, Journal of Management Studies, 37,1, 2000, pp. 109–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuemmerle W., Building Effective R&D Capabilities Abroad, Harvard Business Review, 75,2, 1997, pp. 61–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levinthal, D./ March, J. G., A Model of Adaptive Organizational Search, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2,4, 1981, pp. 307–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levitt, B./ March, J. G., Organizational Learning, Annual Review of Sociology, 14,3, 1988, pp. 319–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levy, D. T., The Transaction Cost Approach to Vertical Integration: An Empirical Investigation, Review of Economics and Statistics, 67,3, 1985, pp. 438–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippman, S. A./ Rumelt, R. P., Uncertain Imitability: An Analysis of Interfirm Differences in Efficiency under Competition, Bell Journal of Economics, 13,1/2, 1982, pp. 418–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, M. D./ Ranft, A. L., Organizational Learning about New International Markets: Exploring the Internal Transfer of Local Market Knowledge, Journal of International Business Studies, 31,4, 2000, pp. 573–589.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas R. E., Adjustment Costs and the Theory of Supply, Journal of Political Economy, 75,4, 1967, pp. 321–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luo Y./ Peng, M. W., Learning to Compete in a Transition Economy: Experience, Environment, and Performance, Journal of International Business Studies, 30,2, 1999, pp. 269–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahoney, J. T., The Management of Resources and the Resource of Management, Journal of Business Research, 33,2, 1995, pp. 91–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahoney, J. T., Economic Foundations of Strategy, Thousand Oaks: Sage 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • March, J. G./ Simon, H. A., Organizations, New York: John Wiley & Sons 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marris, R., A Model of the ‘Managerial’ Enterprise, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 77,2, 1963, pp. 181–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marris, R., The Economic Theory of ‘Managerial Capitalism’, New York: Free Press 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mortensen D. T., Generalized Costs of Adjustment and Dynamic Factor Demand Theory, Econometrica, 41,4, 1973, pp. 657–665.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson R. R./ Winter, S. G., An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neter, J./ Kutner, M. H./ Nachtsheim, C. J./ Wasserrman, W., Applied Linear Statistical Models, 4th edition, New York: McGraw-Hill 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  • Odagiri, H., Growth Through Competition, Competition Through Growth, New York: Oxford University Press 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell, S. W., Managing Foreign Subsidiaries: Agents of Headquarters, or an Independent Network?, Strategic Management Journal, 21,5, 2000, pp. 525–548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orser, B. J./ Hogarth-Scott, S./ Riding, A. L., Performance, Firm Size, and Management Problem Solving, Journal of Small Business Management, 39,4, 2000, pp. 42–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ouchi, W., A Conceptual Framework for the Design of Organizational Control Mechanisms, Management Science, 25,9, 1979, pp. 833–849.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penrose, E., The Theory of the Growth of the Firm, New York: Oxford University Press, 1959.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pitelis, C., The Growth of the Firm: The Legacy of Edith Penrose, New York: Oxford University Press 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polanyi, M., Personal Knowledge, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubin P. H., The Expansion of Firms, Journal of Political Economy, 81,4, 1973, pp. 936–949.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shane, S. A., Hybrid Organizational Arrangements and Their Implications for Firm Growth and Survival: A Study of New Franchisors, Academy of Management Journal, 39,1, 1996, pp. 216–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen, T.Y., Economies of Scale, Penrose-Effect, Growth of Plants and Their Size Distribution, Journal of Political Economy, 78,4, 1970, pp. 702–716.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slater, M., The Managerial Limitations to a Firm’s Rate of Growth, Economic Journal, 90,359, 1980, pp. 520–528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Subramaniam, M./ Venkatraman, N., Determinants of Transnational New Product Development Capability: Testing the Influence of Transferring and Deploying Tacit Overseas Knowledge, Strategic Management Journal, 22,4, 2001, pp. 359–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, J., Gibrat’s Legacy, Journal of Economic Literature, 35,1, 1997, pp. 40–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szulanski, G., Exploring Internal Stickness: Impediments to the Transfer of Best Practice Within the Firm, Strategic Management Journal, 17, Special Issue, 1996, pp. 27–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szulanski, G./ Jensen, R. J., Overcoming Stickiness: An Empirical Investigation of the Role of the Template in the Regulation of Organizational Routines, Managerial and Decision Economic, 25, 2004, pp. 347–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan, D., The Limits to the Growth of Multinational Firms in a Foreign Market, Managerial and Decision Economics, 24,8, 2003, pp. 569–582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan, D./ Mahoney, J. T., Examining the Penrose Effect in an International Business Context: The Dynamics of Japanese Firm Growth in U.S. Industries, Managerial and Decision Economics, 26,2, 2005, pp. 113–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teece, D. J./ Pisano, G./ Shuen, A., Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management, Strategic Management Journal, 18,7, 1997, pp. 509–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, R. S., The Franchise Life Cycle and the Penrose Effect, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 24,2, 1994, pp. 207–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toyo Keizai (ed.), Kaigai Shinshutsu Kigyo Soran, Tokyo: Toyo Keizai, various years.

  • Treadway A. B., Adjustment Costs and Variable Inputs in the Theory of the Competitive Firm, Journal of Economic Theory, 2,4, 1970, pp. 329–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verbeke, A., The Evolutionary View of the MNE and the Future of Internalization Theory, Journal of International Business Studies, 34,6, 2003, pp. 498–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weinzimmer, L. G./ Nystrom, P. C./ Freeman, S. J., Measuring Organizational Growth: Issues, Consequences and Guidelines, Journal of Management, 24,2, 1998, pp. 235–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zahra, S. A./ Ireland, R.D./ Hitt, M. A., International Expansion by New Venture Firms: International Diversify, Mode of Market Entry, Technological Learning, and Performance, Academy of Management Journal, 43,5, 2000, pp. 925–950.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zander, U./ Kogut, B., Knowledge and the Speed of Transfer and Imitation of Organizational Capabilities: An Empirical Test, Organization Science, 6,1, 1995, pp. 76–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zenger, T. R./ Lazzarini, S. G., Overcoming Stickiness: An Empirical Investigation of the Role of the Template in the Replication of Organizational Routines, Managerial and Decision Economics, 25,6/7, 2004, pp. 347–363.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tan, D., Mahoney, J.T. The dynamics of Japanese firm growth in U.S. Industries: The Penrose effect. MANAGE. INT. REV. 47, 259–279 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-007-0015-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-007-0015-3

Key Words

Navigation