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Purpose: This study aims to examine two innovation zones in China, including the Suzhou Industrial Park and Tianjin Eco-city, to gain a comprehensive understanding of city locations attributes and its relationship to inward foreign direct investment (FDI) from multinational enterprises (MNEs) in innovation zones embedded in nonhub cities in China. Design/methodology/approach: This research incorporates two site visits and in-depth interviews with 39 personnel working with innovation zones. Thematic analysis is used to analyze interview data and documents. Findings: The results highlight that cities can use innovation zones as a strategy to build high scale knowledge community precincts to connect MNEs and other global actors. As an important institutional feature of city locations, innovation zones increase within-city connectivity and connect cities in global networks resulting in cross-city connectivity to attract FDI from MNEs. From a dynamic knowledge community perspective, this research also compares active and passive approaches toward building knowledge communities and identifies several elements of knowledge communities within innovation zones in China. Research limitations/implications: The research results could be further explored in other institutional and economic contexts, to understand the interplay of city locations, FDI and innovation zones, and the dynamics of building knowledge communities. Practical implications: This research has several implications for policymakers and administrators who work with municipal economic development and the development and enhancement of innovation zones. It offers recommendations for MNEs to consider where to make foreign investments and the advantages innovation zones may offer to support FDI. Originality/value: This research contributes to the literature related to economic development and how nonhub cities can attract FDI and join global networks. It offers empirical insights drawn from two successful innovation zones located in nonhub cities in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has linked cultural differences between a sojourner's home and host country with their cultural transformation. Nonetheless, the results of empirical studies are inconclusive due to different operationalizations of cultural differences and testing among different groups of sojourners. We extend previous investigations by examining the effects of cultural novelty (i.e., the subjective perception of cultural differences) on the experience of international students (N = 1114) in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the USA. Drawing on acculturation and social learning theories, we conceptualized a model of students' adjustment and satisfaction taking into account cultural novelty. We tested the model through multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM) and examined the various relationships across subsamples from all five countries. We determined the significant effects of cultural novelty and a range of factors impacting students' intercultural experience, such as their cultural intelligence, cultural background, second-language skills, time in the host country, and socialization with domestic students, and how the effects may vary by the host country. We discuss implications for future research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This current study examines how MNE subsidiaries constitute "knowing" in their ongoing practices in local context, with a focus on the Chinese cultural context in which the subsidiary is embedded. From a dynamic system perspective, it provides a framework to further discuss learning of organizations with particular relevance to the Asian business context. This study complements the current understanding of learning by highlighting the essential role of context in enacting knowledge in practice. We conducted 48 in-depth interviews with managers in MNE subsidiaries located at three cities in China, including: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, which captured a broad picture of the Chinese geographic variations and the cultural context. It has practical implications for managers working in China and Asian emerging markets. This study explains the dynamic process of learning in MNE subsidiaries, and the interactions between employees and the local cultural context. Firstly, it reveals the learning nature of daily practices in subsidiaries from a practice view, which further confirms that the "knowing" process of organizations is a continuous, circular process of change characterized as systems dynamics. Second, it discusses that knowing and meaning are embedded in specific contexts of subsidiaries, which are across boundaries and faced with navigating a local cultural context. It highlights the effects of cultural context in enacting knowledge in practice by discussing contextual dynamics of knowing practices in MNE subsidiaries. In particular, the Chinese local context of learning has been examined with support of empirical data. Third, it finds that expatriates serve as channels and storehouse of tacit knowledge in subsidiaries considering the characteristics of Chinese cultural context. It suggests managers working in subsidiaries take advantages of local cultural context. It also has practical implications for MNE headquarters to expand into Asian emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]