Table 11 Sept 2026From “Cultural distance is not a universal entry-mode rule”

The conditional entry-mode fit card

Treat cultural distance as a moderated condition inside a wider resource, institution, control, and evidence review.

Table 1The conditional entry-mode fit card

Synthetic fit question	Greenfield	Acquisition	Joint venture
Primary access logic	Build a new operating configuration	Obtain existing and embedded resources	Combine access, local knowledge, and shared control
Institutional question	Can the firm build the missing market links?	Can it integrate the acquired relationships and routines?	Which local partner closes a resource or institutional gap?
Control question	Which standards must be designed from the start?	Which standards can be changed without destroying value?	Which decisions require explicit governance?
Cultural-distance reading	Not a standalone rule	Not a standalone rule	Not a standalone rule
Evidence boundary	Fit depends on setting and resources	Findings vary by sample, context, and method	Fit depends on institutions, resources, and partner role

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Source: Author's synthetic decision framework grounded in Meyer et al. (2009), Slangen and Hennart (2007), and Tihanyi et al. (2005). The entries are illustrative and do not select a real market or mode.

PNG4:3, 1600 × 1200, with the title, the source line and the attribution set in the image isoglu-2026-cultural-distance-is-not-a-universal-entry-mode-rule-fig02.png

Source and evidence

Each line names a claim related to this exhibit, its source, and how it was checked.

A MEP09-C1 The two views are integrated rather than ranked: "We apply and advance the institution-based view of strategy by integrating it with resource-based considerations", on "Combining survey and archival data from four emerging economies, India, Vietnam, South Africa, and Egypt"Meyer, Estrin, Bhaumik & Peng. (2009)
A MEP09-C2 The modes do different jobs: "Alternative modes of entry-greenfield, acquisition, and joint venture (JV)-allow firms to overcome different kinds of market inefficiencies" related to the resources and to the institutional contextMeyer, Estrin, Bhaumik & Peng. (2009)
A MEP09-C3 And the institutional condition flips which mode helps: "In a weaker institutional framework, JVs are used to access many resources, but in a stronger institutional framework, JVs become less important while acquisitions can play a more important role"Meyer, Estrin, Bhaumik & Peng. (2009)
A SH07-C1 The review's object, verbatim: "This paper reviews the empirical literature on the determinants of the choice by multinational enterprises between entering foreign countries through greenfields or acquisitions"Slangen & Hennart. (2007)
A SH07-C2 And its diagnosis of the disagreement: the authors "examine why these findings have often been inconsistent, and offer theoretical and methodological suggestions to guide future research"Slangen & Hennart. (2007)
A SH07-C3 The output is a research agenda, in the same sentence: the paper offers "theoretical and methodological suggestions to guide future research"Slangen & Hennart. (2007)
A TGR05-C1 The meta-analysis, verbatim: "meta-analyzing data from 66 independent samples, with cumulative sample sizes ranging from 2,255 to 24,152"Tihanyi, Griffith & Russell. (2005)
A TGR05-C2 The direct results are null: "Regression results failed to provide statistical evidence of significant relationships between cultural distance and entry mode choice, international diversification, and MNE performance"Tihanyi, Griffith & Russell. (2005)
A TGR05-C3 What survives is conditional: "The examination of moderator effects, however, yielded important results", so the relationship varies with home-country context and study conditionsTihanyi, Griffith & Russell. (2005)

Grades: A, verified against the printed page of the primary source · B, primary source, text layer only · C, authoritative secondary · D, reported.

From the essay

Growth that compounds

Cultural distance is not a universal entry-mode rule

Cultural distance does not choose an entry mode: fit depends on institutions, resources, mode, sample, and the moderator behind the estimate.

1 Sept 2026

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APA 7

Isoglu, S. (2026). The conditional entry-mode fit card [Table]. isoglu.com. https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-cultural-distance-is-not-a-universal-entry-mode-rule-fig02/

BibTeX

@misc{isoglu-2026-cultural-distance-is-not-a-universal-entry-mode-rule-fig02,
  author = {Isoglu, Sinan},
  title = {{The conditional entry-mode fit card}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Table 1, isoglu.com},
  url = {https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-cultural-distance-is-not-a-universal-entry-mode-rule-fig02/},
  note = {From the essay {Cultural distance is not a universal entry-mode rule}}
}

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  <a href="https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-cultural-distance-is-not-a-universal-entry-mode-rule-fig02/">
    <img src="https://isoglu.com/social/isoglu-2026-cultural-distance-is-not-a-universal-entry-mode-rule-fig02.png" alt="Table 1: The conditional entry-mode fit card" width="3200" height="2400">
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  <figcaption>Table 1: The conditional entry-mode fit card. Source: Author&#39;s synthetic decision framework grounded in Meyer et al. (2009), Slangen and Hennart (2007), and Tihanyi et al. (2005). The entries are illustrative and do not select a real market or mode. <a href="https://isoglu.com/insights/exhibits/isoglu-2026-cultural-distance-is-not-a-universal-entry-mode-rule-fig02/">View exhibit</a>.</figcaption>
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