Vol. 7 No. 3 (2021)
September 2021

Articles

How do intergovernmental organizations embed themselves in global value chains: A case study of Gavi

Published 2021-09-01

  • Melodena Stephens
    • ,
  • Immanuel Azaad Moonesar

Melodena Stephens
Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government

Immanuel Azaad Moonesar
Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government

Abstract

Objective: The article’s objective is to understand how non-MNE actors in the global arena, like intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) embed themselves in the global value chain by using their strong ties to states.

Research Design & Methods: For this study, a qualitative methodology approach investigates an underexplored area of research using a single case study, GAVI, that utilizes thick data.

Findings: The paper contributes to our understanding of IGOs and how they internationalize. New motives are identified, and the concept of soft power has been extended to IGOs.

Implications & Recommendations: IGOs in the humanitarian or developmental sector use soft power strategies to embed themselves in the global value chain. The paper’s implications are for policymakers and practitioners in the third sector, including those who invested interest at state-represented foreign direct investment. Future studies can look at how networks are leveraged, spillover occurs from a personal level to an institutional level, and vice-versa combining diplomacy, bargaining, and legitimacy.

Contribution & Value Added: The study highlights new areas of research like that of soft power. The current internationalization models of SMEs and MNEs may not neatly fit in the context of IGOs (which are born global). We reiterate that existing IB theories need to be applied to other state actors like sovereign wealth funds and non-governmental organizations. The above case study, a detailed historical analysis using thick data, is a methodology not often published.

Keywords

Global value chain, soft power, legitimacy, strategic seeking FDI, GAVI, Global factory

pdf

Author Biography

Melodena Stephens

Professor of Innovation Management at Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (UAE). Ph.D.in Management Studies (2004, Bharati Vidyapeeth University, India). Her research interests include branding, country soft power, social impact, and scaling.

Immanuel Azaad Moonesar

Associate Professor of Health Administration and Policy at Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (UAE).Ph.D.in Health Services-Leadership (Walden University, USA). His research interests include international business policy, health policy, public policy, social policy, policy analyst, maternal and child health care policy.

References

  1. Aid Transparency Index (2020). 2020 Aid Transparency Index. Retrieved fromhttps://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2020/06/2020-Aid-Transparency-Index-report.pdf on 1 May 2021.
  2. Alcacer, J.,& Ingram, P. (2013). Spanning the institutional abyss: The intergovernmental network and the governance of foreign direct investment. American Journal of Sociology, 118, 1055- 1098. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/668692
  3. Balakrishnan, M. S. (2020). Business with Purpose: Advancing Social Enterprise. World Scientific.
  4. Beckfield, J. (2003). Inequality in the world polity: The structure of international organization. American Sociological Review, 68(3), 401-424. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240306800305
  5. Behrendt, S. (2009). Gulf Arab SWFs: Managing wealth in turbulent times and beyond. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Carnegie Middle East Center, 16, 1-56. Retrieved from: https://carnegieendowment.org/files/sovereign_wealth_turbulent.pdf
  6. Bianchi, C.C., & Arnold, S.J. (2004). An institutional perspective on retail internationalization success: Home Depot in Chile. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 14(2), 149-169. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0959396042000178179
  7. Bianchi, C.C., & Ostale, E. (2006). Lessons learned from unsuccessful internationalization attempts: Examples of multinational retailers in Chile. Journal of Business Research, 59(1), 140-147. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2005.01.002
  8. Birkinshaw, J., Brannen, M. Y., & Tung, R. L. (2011). From a distance and generalizable to up close and grounded: Reclaiming a place for qualitative methods in international business research. Journal of International Business Studies, 42, 573-581. https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2011.19 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2011.19
  9. Boehmer, C., Gartzke, E., & Nordstrom, T. (2004). Do intergovernmental organizations promote peace?. World Politics, 57(1), 1-38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/wp.2005.0008
  10. Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. Stanford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503621749
  11. Buckley, P.J. (2004).The role of China in the global strategy of multinational enterprises. Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, 2(1), 1-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14765280310001631354
  12. Buckley, P.J. (2009a). The impact of the global factory on economic development. Journal of World Business, 44(2), 131143. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2008.05.003
  13. Buckley, P.J. (2009b).The rise of the Japanese multinational enterprise: then and now. Asia Pacific Business Review, 15(3), 309-321. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13602380802667247
  14. Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2014). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Sage Publications.
  15. Covaleski, M.A., & Dirsmith, M.W. (1991). The management of legitimacy and politics in public sector admin-istration. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 10(2), 135-156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-4254(91)90009-9
  16. Deephouse, D.L., & Carter, S.M. (2005). An examination of differences between organizational legitimacy and organizational reputation. Journal of Management Studies, 42(2), 329-360. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2005.00499.x
  17. Doz, Y. (2011). Qualitative research for international business. Journal of International Business Studies, 42(5), 582-590. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2011.18
  18. Dunning, J.H., (1988). Explaining International Production. Unwin Hyman.
  19. Dunning, J.H., (1993). The Globalization of Business. Routledge.
  20. Dunning, J.H. (2001). The eclectic (OLI) paradigm of international production: past, present, and future. International Journal of the Economics of Business, 8(2), 173-190. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13571510110051441
  21. Dunning, J.H., & Lundan, S.M. (2008). Multinational enterprises and the global economy. 2nd ed. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
  22. Eisenhardt, K.M., & Graebner, M.E. (2007). Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. The Academy of Management Journal, 50(1), 25-32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.24160888
  23. European Parliament (2020). Understanding the financing of intergovernmental organizations. A snapshot of the budgets of the UN, NATO and WTO. Retrieved from https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2020/652084/EPRS_BRI(2020)652084_EN.pdf on 1 June 2021.
  24. Fan, Y. (2008). Soft power: Power of attraction or confusion. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 4(2), 147-58. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2008.4
  25. Freeman, S., Edwards, R., & Schroder, B. (2006). How smaller born-global firms use networks and alliances to overcome constraints to rapid internationalization. Journal of International Marketing, 14(3), 33-63. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1509/jimk.14.3.33
  26. Gallarotti, G. M. (1989). Legitimacy as a capital asset of the state. Public Choice, 63(1), 43-61. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00223271
  27. Gavi. (2019). Vaccine Goal Indicators. Retrieved from: https://www.gavi.org/programmes-impact/our-impact/measuring-our-performance/2016-2020-indicatorsAccessed 12 May, 2020.
  28. Gereffi, G., & Korzeniewicz, M. (Eds.). (1994). Commodity chains and global capitalism. ABC-CLIO, No. 149.
  29. Goldstone, J.A. (1991). Revolution and rebellion in the early modern world. University of California Press.
  30. Grant, R.M. (2003). Strategic planning in a turbulent environment: Evidence from the oil majors. Strategic Management Journal 24(6), 491-517. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.314
  31. Ha, Y.J., & Giroud, A. (2015). Competence-creating subsidiaries and FDI technology spillovers. International Business Review, 24(4), 605-614. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2014.11.001
  32. Hallin, C., & Lind, C.H. (2012). Revisiting the external impact of MNEs: An empirical study of the mechanisms behind knowledge spillovers from MNE subsidiaries. International Business Review, 21(2), 167-179. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2010.12.003
  33. Haynes, J., Hough, P., Malik, S., & Pettiford, L. (2017). World politics: International relations and globalisa-tion in the 21st century. Sage.
  34. Hocking, B. (2006). Multi-stakeholder diplomacy: forms, functions, and frustrations. In J. Kurbalija & V. Katrandjiev (Eds), Multi-stakeholder diplomacy: Challenges and opportunities(pp. 13-29). DiploFoundation.
  35. Hoon, C. (2013). Meta-synthesis of qualitative case studies: An approach to theory building. Organizational Research Methods, 16(4), 522-556. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428113484969
  36. Hough, M., Jackson, J., Bradford, B., Myhill, A., & Quinton, P. (2010). Procedural justice, trust, and institu-tional legitimacy. Policing: a Journal of Policy and Practice, 4(3), 203-210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paq027
  37. Ingram, P., Robinson, J., & Busch, M. L. (2005). The intergovernmental network of world trade: IGO connectedness, governance, and embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 111(3), 824-858. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/497350
  38. IMF (2018). Annual Report. Retrieved from https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/ar/2018/eng/assets/pdf/imf-annual-report-2018.pdf on 1 May 2021.
  39. Jackson, J. H. (2006). Sovereignty, the WTO, and changing fundamentals of international law. Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815645
  40. Jandhyala, S., & Phene, A. (2015). The role of intergovernmental organizations in cross-border knowledge transfer and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 60(4), 712-743. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839215590153
  41. Kappen, P. (2011). Competence-creating overlaps and subsidiary technological evolution in the multinational corporation. Research Policy, 40(5), 673-686. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2011.02.002
  42. Koremenos, B., Lipson, C., & Snidal, D. (2001). The rational design of international institutions. International Organization, 55(4), 761-799. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/002081801317193592
  43. Lee,T.(2010).Theriseofinternationalnon-governmentalorganizations:Atop-downorbottom-upexplanation?.Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Non-profitOrganizations,21(3),393-416. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-010-9137-5
  44. Lorrain, F., & White, H. C. (1971). Structural equivalence of individuals in social networks. Journal of Mathe-matical Sociology, 1(1), 49-80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0022250X.1971.9989788
  45. Mearsheimer, J. J. (2011). The false promise of international institutions. In J.J. Mearsheimer (Ed.), Security Studies(pp. 153-161). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203422144-26
  46. Meyer, K.E. (2015). What is “strategic asset seeking FDI”?. Multinational Business Review, 23(1), 57-66. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/MBR-02-2015-0007
  47. Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83(2), 340-363. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/226550
  48. Meyer, K. E., Wright, M.& Pruthi, S. (2009). Managing knowledge in foreign entry strategies: A resource-based analysis.Strategic Management Journal, 30(5), 557-574. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.756
  49. Milner, H. V. (1999). The political economy of international trade. Annual Review of Political Science, 2(1), 91-114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.2.1.91
  50. Moore, E., Brandl, K., & Dau, L. A. (2019). Institutional schisms in Argentina: The impact of intergovernmen-tal organizations on country institutional environments. In: International Business in a VUCA World: The Changing Role of States and Firms (pp.89-102). Emerald Publishing Limited. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1745-886220190000014007
  51. Narula, R. (2006). Globalization, new ecologies, new zoologies, and the purported death of the eclectic para-digm. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 23(2), 143-151. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-006-7162-0
  52. Narula, R., & Dunning, J.H. (2000). Industrial development, globalization and multinational enterprises: new realities for developing countries. Oxford Development Studies, 28(2), 141-167. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/713688313
  53. Narula, R. & Zanfei, A. (2004). Globalization of innovation: The role of multinational enterprises -Oxford Handbook of Innovation. Oxford University Press.
  54. Newman, J., Cherney, A. & Head, B.W., (2016). Do policymakers use academic research? Reexamining the “two communities” theory of research utilization. Public Administration Review, 76(1), pp.24-32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12464
  55. Nye, Jr. J.S. (1990). Soft power. Foreign Policy, 80, 153-171. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1148580
  56. Nye Jr, J. S. (2008). Public diplomacy and soft power. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 616(1), 94-109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716207311699
  57. Nye Jr, J. S. (2009). Soft Power: The Means To Success In World Politics. Hachette UK.
  58. Oviatt, B.M., & McDougall, P.P. (2005). Defining international entrepreneurship and modeling the speed of internationalization. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29(5), 537-553. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2005.00097.x
  59. Pananond, P. (2015). Motives for foreign direct investment: a view from emerging market multinationals. The Multinational Business Review, 23(1), 77-86. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/MBR-02-2015-0008
  60. Pfeffer, J. (1981). Management as symbolic action: the creation and maintenance of organizational paradigm. Research in Organizational Behavior, 3, 1-52.
  61. Shenkar, O. (2004). One more time: International business in a global economy. Journal of International Business Studies, 35(2), 161-171. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400074
  62. Suchman, M.C. (1995). Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 571-610. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/258788
  63. Suddaby, R. (2010). Challenges for institutional theory. Journal of Management Inquiry, 19(1), 14-20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492609347564
  64. Stephens Balakrishnan, M. (2016). Gavi: The vaccine alliance: Saving lives one vaccine at a time, In M.S. Balakrishnan & V. Lindsay (Eds.), Actions and Insights: Middle East North Africa (pp. 136-192). Emerald Publishing.
  65. Stephens Balakrishnan, M.& Moonesar, I.A. (2011). Advanced Technology Investment Company(ATIC): a destination, global champion. Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies, 1(4), 1-20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/20450621111192771
  66. Stephens Balakrishnan, M. & Moonesar, I.A. (2017). UAE Sovereign Wealth Funds as Enablers of the Global Factory. November, Issue 45, Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government.
  67. Teegen, H., Doh, J.P., & Vachani, S. (2004). The importance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in global governance and value creation: An international business research agenda. Journal of International Business Studies, 35(6), 463-483. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400112
  68. Turchin, P., & Nefedov, S.A. (2009). Secular cycles. Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400830688
  69. UIA (2018). Union of International Associations. Retrieved from https://uia.org/on 21 January 2021.
  70. Vabulas, F., & Snidal, D. (2013). Organization without delegation: Informal intergovernmental organizations (IIGOs) and the spectrum of intergovernmental arrangements. Review of International Organizations, 8(2), 193-220. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11558-012-9161-x
  71. Weststeijn, A. (2014). The VOC as a company-state: Debating seventeenth-century Dutch colonial expansion. Itinerario, 38(1), 13-34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0165115314000035
  72. White, C. L. (2012). Brands and national image: An exploration of inverse country-of-origin effect. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 8(2), 110-118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2012.6
  73. Yin, R. K. (1994). Case study research: design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA.
  74. Zucchella, A., Palamara, G., & Denicolai, S. (2007). The drivers of the early internationalization of the firm. Journal of World Business, 42(3), 268-280. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2007.04.008

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Similar Articles

51-60 of 118

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.