The empirical link between innovation, learning and performance in Chinese international joint ventures

Although the literature on international joint ventures (IJVs) is already sizeable and steadily growing, there is a paucity of studies on at least one critical issue relating to the growth of IJVs in Asian economies, namely, the salient factors influencing IJV marketing performance. In the international business literature there are many studies that identify important determinants of IJV performance in general (Johnson et al., 2001; Lee and Beamish, 1995; Makino and Beamish, 1998). However, the literature does not adequately cover the issues relating to IJV marketing performance. In the international business literature, studies on marketing performance are largely confined to those firms involved in direct or indirect exporting (Cavusgil and Zou, 1994; Julian, 2003) with very little empirical evidence on IJV marketing performance. Given that successful marketing performance is critical to overall successful business performance (Crocombe, 1991), and the deficiency in the level of empirical evidence on IJV marketing performance, we decided to focus on marketing performance in order to enhance the already significant body of IJV literature. IJV marketing performance is defined as the degree to which the IJV’s marketing objectives, both economic and strategic, with respect to a product/service are achieved in a foreign market (that foreign market being China) through the planning and implementation of a specific marketing plan.