IBS Lunchtime Research Seminar - If we don't win the war': Market and nonmarket strategies during political institutional transitions

You are cordially invited to attend an International Business and Strategy Departmental Research Meeting, during which there will be a presentation by Dr Thomas DeBerge, Quinlan School of Business. A reminder that attendance for IBS (full time, research oriented) staff and full-time students is compulsory, and where possible, must be in person. Individuals unable to attend in person, due to legitimate reasons will be provided a Teams link on request. Non-IBS staff are welcome to attend, but must register prior to the event. If you have not received the email invite please email Angie Clark

Please join us in Room 108, Henley Business School, if you would like to attend, please register using the link below:

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Please make sure you let me know in advance if you intend to attend in person so that the correct amount of catering is booked.

Date: Wednesday 5th March 2025, HBS Room 108

Time: 111.30 - 13.00

Abstract:

In this paper, I examine the processes by which firms deploy market and nonmarket strategies during political institutional transitions. Providing empirical evidence to investigate the proposed distinctions between captured and incomplete institutions in the context of institutional change, I explore how firms enter the market as the institutional environment is in flux, with some firms deploying market and nonmarket strategies aimed at capturing the emergent political stakeholders for their benefit. Focusing on the entry of foreign mining companies into the Democratic Republic of Congo during and after the Congo Wars, I conduct a case study approach generating a contextualized explanation of the processes of entry over time. My case study yields a process that features a political
division of labor between small, early entry firms acting as political speculators who, having exerted outsized influence over the emergent institutional order, are joined later by large firms seeking to avoid risky political engagement but now face a late-mover disadvantage. This study posits a contingent perspective of institutional transitions that, one, accounts for the uncertain trajectory and outcome of transitions and, two, imbues organizational actors with significant bargaining power over various stakeholders that can impact the long-term process of institutionalization.