Abstract
We examine how subsidiaries can implement business expansion successfully to capitalize on growth potentials. Building on our baseline hypothesis, which examines the effect of the extent of business expansion on subsidiary divestment, we also identify the boundary condition of the tendency of subsidiary’s learning behavior in foreign expansion. Specifically, we argue that subsidiaries that expand multiple businesses through competence-creating learning behaviors are more likely to be divested due to increasing complexity. We further suggest a remedial condition to offer a viable approach to implement business expansion through competence-creating learning successfully. Based on a sample of 6,040 foreign subsidiaries operating over 14 years, we show that affiliates are more likely to expand into unfamiliar business domains successfully if they have operated a wider scope of business domains.