Carrying out green innovation is beneficial for firms to cope with environmental protection pressure and achieve sustainable development. Existing research has paid enough attention to the driver of green innovation, but still does not reveal how green innovation can be conceived and realized. This paper answers the above question from the perspective of international M&As, examines the relationship between exploratory international M&As, exploitative international M&As and green innovation performance, and further probes into how strategic and environmental factors moderate the green innovation effectiveness of exploratory and exploitative M&As. Results indicate that exploratory and exploitative international M&As both are beneficial for green innovation performance, and to maximize green innovation performance, implementing exploratory M&As is more beneficial for firms pursuing high green image and operating in a high green subsidy environment. By contrast, carrying out exploitative M&As is more effective for firms pursuing low green image and operating in a low green subsidy environment. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Purpose: Extant research has integrated ambidexterity perspective into international business studies and calls for emerging market multinational enterprises (EM MNEs) to implement exploration and exploitation activities simultaneously in foreign markets. However, less attention has been paid to empirically test whether and how international ambidexterity can benefit the innovation performance of EM MNEs. Based on the data of international manufacturing firms in China, this paper explores the relationship between international ambidexterity and innovation performance and investigates four contingency factors of top management team (TMT): two external resource accumulation elements (i.e. TMT business ties and TMT political ties) and two internal resource integration elements (i.e. TMT contingency rewards and TMT social integration).Design/methodology/approach: The author conducts multiple hierarchical linear regression analysis to test the hypothesis by collecting survey data from 227 MNEs from several Economic Development Zones located in Zhejiang province in China.Findings: The results show that international ambidexterity is positively related to innovation performance, and the international ambidexterity–innovation performance relationship is amplified when TMTs build strong ties with external business partners and political departments, when EM MNEs link top managers' income to team collective performance and create a highly social integrated TMT.Originality/value: The results contributes to answer the question that how well EM MNEs will succeed and enrich the context specificity of international ambidexterity. The findings also help us better understand the inconsistent empirical findings in organizational ambidexterity by uncovering the contingency role of several TMT attributes.

International diversification has become a crucial measure for firms to realize sustainable development. However, previous studies have drawn inconsistent conclusions on the sustainable performance impact of international expansion. This paper examines the relationships among international diversification, capabilities, and sustainable performance. We provide a theoretical perspective of dynamic capabilities to uncover the impact mechanism of international diversification on firms’ economic and environmental performance. Based on data from Chinese listed manufacturing firms operating overseas, the findings show that international diversification is significant for firms’ sustainable development, and its effect on economic performance and environmental performance is mediated by adaptive capability and innovation capability. The implications for theoretical development and operating practice are discussed.

This study investigates whether and to what extent EM MNEs employ OFDI for knowledge-seeking and knowledge-integration purposes to improve their innovation capability at home. Extending previous studies that have identified the knowledge-seeking motives and also provided some evidence for their validity, our study aims to examine how such OFDI can benefit the innovation performance of EM MNEs at home. Using survey data from a sample of manufacturing firms in China, we demonstrate that OFDI is positively related to innovation performance. We also find that the positive relationship between OFDI and innovation performance is stronger when foreign firms have acquired an ownership interest in an EM MNE and when they have higher R&D intensity. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.