Seminar (Dept. of General Management)

Title: Upward Foreign Direct Investment and Gender Equality in Emerging Economy Multinational Enterprises: Actual or Symbolic Social Learning?

Speaker: Pengcheng Ma (Australian National University)

Time: 10:00am, May 4th (Thursday), 2023

Venue: Online Meeting

Language: Chinese/English

ABSTRACT:

International business can transmit positive social practices such as equality, diversity, and inclusion. This study investigates the social learning effects of OFDI on emerging economy multinational enterprises’ (EMNE) gender practices, distinguishing two types of female leadership - actual and symbolic. We argue that while upward OFDI has positive effects on both types of female leadership in EMNEs, these social learning effects are contingent on organizational and strategic factors. Specifically, state ownership and internationalization speed weaken actual learning but strengthen symbolic learning.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY:

Pengcheng Ma is a PHD candidate in the Research School of Management, College of Business and Economic at Australia National University. His research interests mainly focus on international business area especially multinational firms in emerging markets, business group and global supply chain. He has published articles in Global Strategy Journal, Journal of Business Research, Technovation, and Journal of International Management.