The effects of board member characteristics on internationalization performance: analysis of the Turkish case

Abstract

Although both boards of directors and internationalization performance of firms have been popular areas of study, the impact of the former on the latter remains as a relatively untapped area of research. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of board member characteristics on internationalization performance of firms. Resource-based view (RBV) of the firm establishes the theoretical framework of the study. This theory has been increasingly used in the international business and has been recommended for use in developing economies. According to the RBV of the firm, a firm derives its competitiveness from the rare, valuable, inimitable and non-substitutable resources it controls. As board members establish a part of firm’s human resources, board member characteristics are expected to have an impact on a firm’s internationalization performance. It is suggested in this study that younger boards with higher educational attainment and higher foreign country exposure will have better internationalization performances. Firms included in the ISE National 100 Index establish the sample of the study. Data were collected mainly from archival and by direct contact when necessary. Frequency analyses, Mann-Whitney tests and bivariate correlation analyses were used for data analysis. Mann-Whitney tests revealed no statistically significant difference between boards of firms with different levels of internationalization performance. However, correlation analysis shows a statistically significant positive relationship between educational attainment, foreign country exposure and internationalization performance.