Charles E. Stevens

Professor Stevens joined the Lehigh faculty in 2013 and is also the Co-Director of the International Business Certificate program. Prior to coming to Lehigh, Stevens served as an assistant professor at the College of Business, University of Wyoming. He graduated from the Ohio State University with a Ph.D. in Business Administration with a concentration in International Business. Prior to pursuing his Ph.D., he worked for the Ichimiya Corporation in Niihama, Japan. He has also been a visiting faculty fellow at Nihon University College of Economics, in Tokyo.

Charlie Stevens’ research interests center on the intersection of the strategic management and international business fields, with a particular interest in understanding how social evaluations (e.g., legitimacy and reputation) affect the strategy and performance of multinational enterprises. He is especially interested in these issues in the context of emerging markets—understanding the strategies and unique challenges faced by MNEs emerging from or entering developing countries and regions such as Africa and China. He has published papers on these topics in journals including Strategic Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Operations Management, and Journal of Management, and serves on the editorial review board of Academy of Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, and Journal of World Business. Stevens is also an associate member of the Dunning Africa Centre.

Education

• The Ohio State University, B.S.B.A
• The Ohio State University, B.A.
• The Ohio State University, Ph.D.

Research Interests

• Legitimacy & reputation
• Foreign entry strategy
• Political risk & corruption
• Liability of foreignness

 

• Stevens, C., & Newenham-Kahindi, A. (2021) Avoid, acquiesce … or engage? New insights from sub-Saharan Africa on MNE strategies for managing corruption. Strategic Management Journal, 42(2): 273-301.
• Mukherjee, D., Makarius, E., & Stevens, C. (2021) A reputation transfer perspective on the internationalization of emerging market firms. Journal of Business Research, 123: 568-579.
• Cooper, J., Stanley, L., Stevens, C., Shenkar, O., & Kausch, C. (2020) Switching analytical mindsets: A person-centered approach to the analysis of cultural values. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 20(2): 223-247.
• Dykes, B., Stevens, C., & Lahiri, N. (2020) Foreignness in public-private partnerships: The case of project finance investments. Journal of International Business Policy, 3(2): 183-197.
• Xie, E., Huang Y., Stevens, C., & Lebedev, S. (2019) Performance feedback and outward foreign direct investment by emerging economy firms. Journal of World Business, 54(6): 101014.
• Makarius, E., & Stevens, C. (2019) Drivers of collective human capital flow: The impact of reputation and labor market conditions. Journal of Management, 45(3): 1145-1172.
• Newenham-Kahindi, A., & Stevens, C. (2018) An institutional logics approach to liability of foreignness: The case of mining MNEs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of International Business Studies, 49(7): 881-901.
• Mukherjee, D., Makarius, E., & Stevens, C. (2018) Business group reputation and affiliates’ internationalization strategies. Journal of World Business, 53(2): 93-103
• Makarius, E., Stevens C., & Tenhiälä, A. (2017) Anchor or stepping stone? The relationship between corporate reputation and voluntary turnover. Organization Studies, 38(12): 1665-1686
• Stevens, C., & Newenham-Kahindi, A. (2017) Legitimacy spillovers and political risk: The case of FDI in the East African Community. Global Strategy Journal, 7(1): 10-35.
• Stevens, C., Xie, E., & Peng, M. (2016) Toward a legitimacy-based view of political risk: The case of Google and Yahoo in China. Strategic Management Journal, 37(5): 945-963.
• Lebedev, S., Peng, M., Xie, E., & Stevens, C. (2015) Mergers and acquisitions in and out of emerging economies. Journal of World Business, 50(4): 651-662.
• Stevens, C., Makarius, E., Mukherjee, D. (2015) It takes two to tango: Signaling behavioral intent in service multinationals’ foreign entry strategies. Journal of International Management, 21(3): 235-248.
• Stevens, C., & Makarius, E. (2015) Overcoming information asymmetry in foreign entry strategy: The impact of reputation. Global Strategy Journal, 5: 256-272.
• Stevens, C., Kidwell, R., & Sprague, R. (2015) Bound by Laws, or by Values? A Multi-Level and Cross-National Approach to Understanding the Protection of Minority Owners in Family Firms. Corporate Governance: An International Review 23(3): 203-215.
• Kistruck, G., Morris, S., Webb, J., & Stevens, C. (2015) The importance of client heterogeneity in predicting make-or-buy decisions. Journal of Operations Management, 33-34: 97-110.
• Stevens, C., & Dykes, B. (2013) The home country cultural determinants of firms’ foreign market entry timing strategies. Long Range Planning, 46: 387-410.
• Stevens, C., & Shenkar, O. (2012) The liability of home: Institutional friction and firm disadvantage abroad. Advances in International Management, 25: 127-148.
• Stevens, C., & Cooper, J. (2010). A behavioral theory of governments’ ability to make credible commitments to firms: The case of the East Asian paradox. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 27(4): 587-610.