This study investigates the relationship between top management team characteristics and activities of firm’s Outward Foreign Direct Investment using 83 of the 100 largest Malaysian MNCs listed on Bursa Malaysia. Malaysian OFDI has increased which raises concerns about the effect of managerial characteristics on firms’ international diversification using upper echelons theory and the Uppsala internationalization process model. We use the entropy method by Qian (1996) as the proxy for level of international diversification. Age, international experience, educational level and functional background are used to reflect the TMT cognitive abilities and competencies. The empirical results show that age and functional background are positively associated with a higher level of international diversification. In addition, result showed there is a reasonable link between upper echelons theory and Uppsala internationalization process model.
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