Strategic leaders in multinational enterprises: A role-specific microfoundational view and research agenda

Dimitrios Georgakakis (), Mads E. Wedell-Wedellsborg (), Tommaso Vallone () and Peder Greve ()
Additional contact information
Dimitrios Georgakakis: University of York, School for Business and Society
Mads E. Wedell-Wedellsborg: University of Reading
Tommaso Vallone: University of Reading
Peder Greve: University of Reading

Journal of International Business Studies, 2023, vol. 54, issue 3, No 6, 514-537

Abstract: Abstract Strategic leadership research in the field of international business (IB) explains how the actions and outcomes of multinational enterprises (MNE) vary with the attributes and interactions of their key decision-makers, i.e., their strategic leaders. Yet, while the importance of strategic leadership has gained momentum in IB, we lack a systematic understanding of the roles that strategic leaders enact in the MNE context. This omission is critical, as understanding the distinctive roles of IB decision-makers is a key prerequisite for establishing uniqueness in this emerging research field. In this study, we elaborate on the theoretical foundations of five IB strategic leadership roles and outline how the MNE context fundamentally shapes their uniqueness. Our perspective presents each of the five roles as distinctly shaped by two core microfoundational processes – bounded rationality and bounded reliability – which intensify the challenges facing MNE strategic leaders in their role enactment. Acknowledging that IB strategic leaders perform multiple roles simultaneously and interdependently, we conclude with an overall synthesis and guide for future research that moves toward a multirole and multilevel understanding of IB strategic leadership.

Keywords: multinational enterprise; strategic leadership; top management teams; bounded rationality; bounded reliability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41267-022-00582-y Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:jintbs:v:54:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1057_s41267-022-00582-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... nt/journal/41267/PS2

DOI: 10.1057/s41267-022-00582-y

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of International Business Studies is currently edited by John Cantwell

More articles in Journal of International Business Studies from Palgrave Macmillan, Academy of International Business
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().