Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- 1 The new multinationals
- 2 Traditional and new multinationals
- 3 Diversification and vertical integration in traditional industries
- 4 Market access and technology in durable consumer goods
- 5 Serving global customers in producer goods
- 6 Learning by doing in infrastructure and financial services
- 7 Competing in hard and soft services
- 8 The new multinational as a type of firm
- References
- Index
8 - The new multinational as a type of firm
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- 1 The new multinationals
- 2 Traditional and new multinationals
- 3 Diversification and vertical integration in traditional industries
- 4 Market access and technology in durable consumer goods
- 5 Serving global customers in producer goods
- 6 Learning by doing in infrastructure and financial services
- 7 Competing in hard and soft services
- 8 The new multinational as a type of firm
- References
- Index
Summary
I think it is fair to characterize [research on the multinational firm] as resting heavily on the multinational's ability to exploit know-how and expertise gained in one country's market in other countries at low cost, thereby offsetting the unavoidable extra costs of doing business in a foreign country.
Michael E. Porter (1986: 15–17)Twenty years ago I would never have dreamt that we would be the ninth-largest bank in the world.
Emilio Botín, Presidente del Grupo Santander (Euromoney, July 1, 2005)The rise of new multinational companies from newly industrialized, emerging, and developing countries challenges our conventional assumptions not only about the ways in which firms overcome the liability of foreignness and expand around the world, but also about the distinctive features of the multinational enterprise. The new multinationals initially lacked the traditional advantages attributed to multinational corporations, namely, proprietary technology and brands. This disadvantage, however, did not prevent them from expanding around the world. In contrast to the classic multinationals, they found strength in their ability to organize, manage, execute, and network. They pursued a variety of strategies of vertical integration, product diversification, learning by doing, exploration of new capabilities, and collaboration with other firms. Over time, some of them have developed technological and branding capabilities or evolved from niche players to generalists, but only after gaining enough scale.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The New MultinationalsSpanish Firms in a Global Context, pp. 192 - 204Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010