Geographical diversification as a predictor of MNC reputations in their home nations

This study explores the link between geographical diversification and firms' home-nation reputations. We hypothesize a u-shaped relationship between geographic diversification and firm reputation and examine the moderating effect of the globalization level of a firm's home nation on this relationship. Results based on 403 of the world's largest firms support our hypotheses. Our study advances firm reputation research that has examined the link between strategy and reputation but has left unattended the reputational impact of firms' geographical expansion. Similarly, it contributes to the global strategy literature, which has extensively studied the financial implications of geographical diversification, but has devoted limited attention to intangible outcomes such as firm reputation.