| The main contribution of this dissertation is to redefine multinationality to capture the regional effect. More specifically, new tests are conducted of the relationships between firm-specific-advantages (FSAs), intra-regional sales (within the home region of the triad of North America, Europe, and Asia), product diversity, and firm-level performance.; First, this dissertation examines the geographic reach of a firm's FSAs (including firm size, knowledge, marketing ability, and industry type), and explores whether the firm indeed exercises each of these FSAs based on its geographic reach. First, the results show that FSAs in knowledge (as represented by R&D) and service sector type are best exploited within the home-region. In contrast, the FSA firm size is better exploited by global and bi-regional firms. Second, a service firm tends to be home-region oriented or tends to have a higher level of intra-regional sales than a manufacturing firm. Finally, the results show that most firms do not exercise the FSA in knowledge based on its geographic reach.; Second this dissertation examines the effect of a firm's level of intra-regional sales on its performance. The form of the relationship is explored. The results show that there exists a strong positive relationship between a firm's level of intra-regional sales and its performance. That is, a firm tends to perform better when it has its sales in the home region of the triad. The hypothesis that there exists a non-linear relationship (second and third order curvilinear relationship) between performance and intra-regional sales is not supported.; Finally, this dissertation examines the relationships between product diversity, intra-regional sales, and performance of 45 merchandising firms using data from 1997-2003. The analysis integrates three main theories, namely the resource-based view, transaction costs, and organization learning theory. The models measuring a firm's performance by return on assets (ROA) and return on sales (ROS) show that at high levels of intra-regional sales, small levels of product diversity can generate greater return to a firm but excessive levels of product diversity may hurt a firm's performance, and that greater levels of intra-regional sales tend to enhance the impact of product diversity on performance. |
