Speed of internationalization and firm performance: the moderating role of potential slack and knowledge assets

Purpose The speed of internationalization is an important research topic in the process of internationalization. This paper aims to answer two questions: first, what is the relationship between the speed of internationalization of Chinese multinational firms and their performance? Second, how do potential slack and knowledge assets of firms affect this relationship? Design/methodology/approach The authors choose Chinese A-share listed manufacturing firms from 2009–2018 as the research sample and use the fixed-effect regression model to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings Firstly, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the speed of internationalization and firm performance (SI-P). Secondly, the potential slack and knowledge assets of firms moderate the inverted U-shaped relationship. Firms with a higher level of potential slack or knowledge assets have a flatter inverted U-shaped relationship between SI-P. Originality/value First, the authors develop and extend Penrose’s theory of firm growth to the research topic of speed of internationalization. Second, this paper incorporates the time dimension into the research on the internationalization process and locates the research context in emerging market firms (EMFs). This is a step forward in clarifying the complex relationship of SI-P. Third, the authors show that the SI-P relationship of EMFs is inverted U-shaped and integrate previous studies, which argue that rapid internationalization positively or negatively affects firm performance. Fourth, starting from inside the firm, the authors provide more contextual factors for better understanding and analysis of the SI-P relationship.