When Mickey Loses Face: Recontextualization, Semantic Fit, and the Semiotics of Foreignness

Foreignness is generally viewed as a liability for the multinational enterprise, negatively affecting strategic fit and the successful transfer of firm assets abroad. Using semiotics—the study of how language systems convey meaning—and the Walt Disney Company's experiences in internationalization, I develop the notion of semantic fit as a necessary complement to strategic fit and formalize a conceptual model of recontextualization—the process by which firm assets take on new meanings in distinct cultural environments.

[1]  Bruce Kogut,et al.  Country capabilities and the permeability of borders , 1991 .

[2]  W. Diebold,et al.  The Borderless World , 1990 .

[3]  Cristina B. Gibson,et al.  Minding Your Metaphors: Applying the Concept of Teamwork Metaphors to the Management of Teams in Multicultural Contexts , 2002 .

[4]  R. M. Hall,et al.  A framework linking intangible resources and capabilities to sustainable competitive advantage , 1993 .

[5]  S. Linstead,et al.  Globalization, Multiculturalism and Other Fictions: Colonialism for the New Millennium? , 2001 .

[6]  H. Triandis.  Individualism And Collectivism , 1995 .

[7]  Thomas P. Rohlen.  For harmony and strength: Japanese white-collar organization in anthropological perspective , 1974 .

[8]  Karl E. Weick,et al.  Organizing on a global scale: A research and teaching agenda , 1990 .

[9]  Bronwen Martin,et al.  Dictionary of Semiotics , 2000 .

[10]  Srilata Zaheer.  The liability of foreignness, redux: a commentary , 2002 .

[11]  Martha S. Feldman,et al.  The uniqueness paradox in organizational stories. , 1983 .

[12]  Stewart R. Miller,et al.  Is there a liability of foreignness in global banking? An empirical test of banks' X‐efficiency , 2002 .

[13]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Culture′s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values , 1980 .

[14]  R. Caves,et al.  Multinational Enterprise and Economic Analysis: Preface , 2007 .

[15]  M. Casson,et al.  The future of the multinational enterprise , 1977 .

[16]  J. Tobin,et al.  Re-made in Japan : everyday life and consumer taste in a changing society , 1993 .

[17]  W. Mitchell,et al.  Getting there in a global industry: Impacts on performance of changing international presence , 1992 .

[18]  Yoshimoto Mitsuhiro.  The Postmodern and Mass Images in Japan , 1989 .

[19]  Srilata Zaheer.  Overcoming the Liability of Foreignness , 1995 .

[20]  B. Kogut,et al.  Knowledge of the firm and the evolutionary theory of the multinational corporation , 1993 .

[21]  Mike W. Peng,et al.  Learning to Compete in a Transition Economy: Experience, Environment, and Performance , 1999 .

[22]  Mary E. Zellmer-Bruhn,et al.  Metaphors and Meaning: An Intercultural Analysis of the Concept of Teamwork , 2001 .

[23]  Paul W. Beamish,et al.  Geographic Scope, Product Diversification and the Corporate Performance of Japanese Firms , 1999 .

[24]  D. Boje.  Narrative methods for organizational and communication research , 2001 .

[25]  H. Barkema,et al.  FOREIGN ENTRY, CULTURAL BARRIERS, AND LEARNING , 1996 .

[26]  Leslie E. Palich,et al.  Cultural Diversity and the Performance of Multinational Firms , 1997 .

[27]  P. Garvin,et al.  Prolegomena to a Theory of Language , 1953 .

[28]  Srilata Zaheer,et al.  THE DYNAMICS OF THE LIABILITY OF FOREIGNNESS: A GLOBAL STUDY OF SURVIVAL IN FINANCIAL SERVICES , 1997 .

[29]  Harumi Befu.  Gift-Giving in a Modernizing Japan , 1968 .

[30]  K. Meethan,et al.  The changing consumer : markets and meanings , 2002 .

[31]  Robert P. Gephart,et al.  Succession Sensemaking and Organizational Change: A Story of a Deviant College President , 1991 .

[32]  H. Triandis,et al.  Cultural Variations in the Cross-Border Transfer of Organizational Knowledge: An Integrative Framework , 2002 .

[33]  K. Silverman,et al.  The subject of semiotics , 1983 .

[34]  M. Gottdiener.  Disneyland: A Utopian Urban Space , 1982 .

[35]  Ben L. Kedia,et al.  Cultural Constraints on Transfer of Technology Across Nations: Implications for Research in International and Comparative Management , 1988 .

[36]  Nicolas Papadopoulos,et al.  Product-Country Images: Impact and Role in International Marketing , 1993 .

[37]  T. Kostova.  Transnational Transfer of Strategic Organizational Practices: A Contextual Perspective , 1999 .

[38]  N. Fairclough,et al.  Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language , 1995 .

[39]  P. Bohannan.  How culture works , 1994 .

[40]  Jean-François Lyotard,et al.  The Postmodern Condition , 1979 .

[41]  Paul W. Beamish,et al.  Survival and Profitability: The Roles of Experience and Intangible Assets in Foreign Subsidiary Performance , 2002 .

[42]  D. Sperber,et al.  Relevance: Communication and Cognition , 1989 .

[43]  John Child,et al.  HOST‐COUNTRY MANAGERIAL BEHAVIOUR AND LEARNING IN CHINESE AND HUNGARIAN JOINT VENTURES* , 1993 .

[44]  石井 敏,et al.  Understanding Intercultural Communication , 1980 .

[45]  J. Kristeva,et al.  Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art , 1982 .

[46]  T. Kostova,et al.  Social Capital in Multinational Corporations and a Micro-Macro Model of its Formation , 2003 .

[47]  Robert A. Burgelman.  Intraorganizational Ecology of Strategy Making and Organizational Adaptation: Theory and Field Research , 1991 .

[48]  Gabriel Szulanski.  Exploring internal stickiness: Impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm , 1996 .

[49]  H. Triandis.  Cross-cultural studies of individualism and collectivism. , 1989, Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation.

[50]  John M. Mezias,et al.  Identifying liabilities of foreignness and strategies to minimize their effects: the case of labor lawsuit judgments in the United States , 2002 .

[51]  R. H. Waterman,et al.  In Search of Excellence , 1983 .

[52]  Joy Hendry.  Wrapping Culture: Politeness, Presentation, and Power in Japan and Other Societies , 1993 .

[53]  J. Searle,et al.  Expression and Meaning. , 1982 .

[54]  C. Marlene Fiol,et al.  A Semiotic Analysis of Corporate Language: Organizational Boundaries and Joint Venturing , 1989 .

[55]  Bruce Kogut,et al.  Research notes and communications a note on global strategies , 1989 .

[56]  S. Hymer.  international operations of national firms , 1976 .

[57]  B. Kogut,et al.  Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology , 1992 .

[58]  I. Nonaka,et al.  The Knowledge Creating Company , 2008 .

[59]  David M. Boje,et al.  STORIES OF THE STORYTELLING ORGANIZATION: A POSTMODERN ANALYSIS OF DISNEY AS "TAMARA-LAND" , 1995 .

[60]  J. Dunning.  Trade, Location of Economic Activity and the MNE: A Search for an Eclectic Approach , 1977 .

[61]  N. Adler.  International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior , 1986 .

[62]  Peter K. Manning,et al.  Semiotics and Fieldwork , 1987 .

[63]  Umberto Eco,et al.  Semiotics and the philosophy of language , 1985, Advances in semiotics.

[64]  C. Bartlett,et al.  Managing across Borders: The Transnational Solution , 1990 .

[65]  R. T. Oliver,et al.  Culture and communication , 1962 .

[66]  Simcha Ronen,et al.  Comparative and multinational management , 1986 .

[67]  S. Barley.  Semiotics and the Study of Occupational and Organizational Cultures. , 1983 .

[68]  Cristina B. Gibson,et al.  Taking Stock in Our Progress on Individualism-Collectivism: 100 Years of Solidarity and Community , 1998 .

[69]  S. Gould.  The Panda's Thumb , 1980 .

[70]  Leonard C. Hawes.  Organizing Narratives/Codes/ Poetics , 1991 .

[71]  J. Hennart,et al.  A Theory of the Multinational Enterprise , 1982 .

[72]  J. Barney.  Strategic Factor Markets: Expectations, Luck, and Business Strategy , 1986 .

[73]  Charles P. Kindleberger,et al.  American Business Abroad : Six Lectures on Direct Investment , 1969 .

[74]  Harry G. Barkema,et al.  Working abroad, working with others: How firms learn to operate international joint ventures , 1997 .

[75]  T. Kostova,et al.  Organizational Legitimacy Under Conditions of Complexity: The Case of the Multinational Enterprise , 1999 .

[76]  J. V. Maanen,et al.  Displacing Disney: Some notes on the flow of culture , 1992 .

[77]  D. Boje.  The storytelling organization: A study of story performance in an office-supply firm. , 1991 .

[78]  J. Johanson,et al.  The Internationalization Process of the Firm—A Model of Knowledge Development and Increasing Foreign Market Commitments , 1977 .

[79]  T. Kostova,et al.  Adoption of an Organizational Practice by Subsidiaries of Multinational Corporations: Institutional and Relational Effects , 2002 .

[80]  M. Brannen,et al.  Partnering Across Borders: Negotiating Organizational Culture in a German-Japanese Joint Venture , 2000 .

[81]  P. Earley,et al.  Culture, self-identity, and work , 1993 .