Technological Growth in the MNC : A Longitudinal Study of the Role of Advanced Foreign Subsidiaries

This thesis emphasizes the technological evolution of technologically advanced foreign subsidiaries of multinational corporations, in order to examine specific and related research questions as to what is the nature of the advanced modern MNC regarding technological growth. In particular, evolutionary paths and potential limits to the development of technological capabilities at the level of individual foreign subsidiaries, and to what extent these subsidiaries serve as significant sources of technological capabilities for other actors in the multinational group are highlighted. More specific, longitudinal patterns and pace in the emergence and diffusion of new technological capabilities by advanced foreign subsidiaries are studied.   Event history analysis of the complete U.S. patenting activity of 23 Swedish multinationals over the 1893-1990 time period reveals accelerated emergence of new technological capabilities by advanced foreign subsidiaries, but at moderate hazard rates. The results also show that there are substantially different probabilities of introducing new technological capabilities depending on the type of entry mode and that acquired subsidiaries are much more important than greenfield subsidiaries as growth engines for the technological renewal of the MNC. Moreover, the findings suggest the presence of an increased pace in reverse diffusion, hence the later into the time period a technological capability emerges in an advanced foreign subsidiary, the faster it is diffused to headquarters. The results also demonstrate that the type of subsidiary has a significant influence on diffusion patterns of new technological capabilities and thus how capabilities are leveraged throughout the MNC network.   To conclude, a balanced view on the creative capabilities of the MNC seems to be called for. The modern MNC does have and display many of the features of the modern MNC as identified in previous literature, but the expectations traditionally and generally expressed in the literature may have been an overstatement of actual conditions and developments. The ultimate technological limits of advanced foreign subsidiaries seem far from reached, and the final word on the ultimate importance of these subsidiaries as significant sources of new technological capabilities for other actors in the MNC is still to be spoken

Chinese outward foreign direct investments to Europe

This paper addresses Chinese outward foreign direct investments (OFDI) in Europe. We aim to provide more knowledge on the ongoing research discussion about Chinese OFDI, more specifically, we answer questions about what is driving Chinese firms to invest in Europe, and whether Chinese investment behaviour in Europe differs compared with their investments in other parts of the world. For our empirical study we use data from the 2012 statistical bulletin of Chinese OFDI, 20032012. Our results indicate that European countries generally receive lower levels of investment from Chinese firms compared with other regions of the world. We find, furthermore, that the main motives for Chinese investment in Europe are market seeking and strategic asset seeking, and that there are large differences among European countries in attracting Chinese investments

Superstar inventors - Towards a people-centric perspective on the geography of technological renewal in the multinational corporation

This paper develops a people-centric perspective on the geographical dispersion of technological renewal in the multinational corporation (MNC). We contend that a large proportion of all foreign technological advancements can be attributed to a handful of individual inventors, suggesting a blockbuster effect of subsidiary technological development. This suggests that analyses carried out at the subsidiary or firm level disguise significant yet largely unexplored variation in the technological contributions made by individual members of these foreign units. To support this proposition, the paper draws upon an original data set that comprises all of the advanced foreign subsidiaries of 21 Swedish MNCs between 1893 and 2008, and follows their patenting activity in order to document the distribution of inventive activity, both across and within individual subsidiaries. The findings at the subsidiary level show that the distribution of technological activity and contribution to the overall multinational group is significantly skewed; the paper then empirically explores the assumption that a similar distribution also applies at the level of individual inventors. The results point to a pattern whereby most inventors make only occasional and limited technological contributions and, instead, more significant numbers of new technological discoveries are attributable to a select group of exceptionally inventive individuals. In the light of the results, we suggest the fruitfulness of applying a people-centric perspective on the sources of sustained competitive advantage of the MNC, the management of geographically dispersed capabilities in the multinational network, and the geographical sources of technological renewal in the MNC

Win, Place, or Show? : How Foreign Investment Strategies Contribute to the Technological Growth of the Multinational Corporation

This paper investigates the sources of technological growth of the multinational corporation. We conceptualize and shed empirical light on whether foreign investment strategies based on advanced greenfield subsidiaries, acquired subsidiaries, or a combination of both increase the likelihood of entry into technologies that represent new additions to the MNC’s technology portfolio. Repeated events analyses of the complete U.S. patenting activity in 226 foreign locations of 21 Swedish multinationals reveal a substantially higher likelihood of entry into new technologies among investment strategies based on foreign acquisitions, as opposed to investment strategies based on greenfield establishments only. To the extent MNC managers seek to enhance technological and strategic renewal through the expansion of foreign operations, the findings suggest that foreign investment strategies that involve the use of acquisitions are and should be the preferred alternative

Weathering storms – Technological exploration of MNCs in times of financial crisis

We generate new knowledge about financial crises and their consequences for MNC technological development, thereby addressing a largely uncharted issue at the crossroads of the organization, strategy and international business literatures. Drawing on threat-rigidity theory, we argue that financial crises have an overall negative effect on MNC technological exploration and that the strength of the effect differs across greenfield and acquired subsidiaries. Results from an empirical investigation of 21 MNCs over the 1890–2008 period suggest that the dampening effect of financial crises on technological exploration is confined to home-country units and greenfield subsidiaries, whereas it is found to be of less significance among acquired foreign subsidiaries. We suggest that such differentiation within the MNC is indicative of a previously unobserved advantage from multinationality, which allows it to smoothen the effects of financial crises on long-term technological development and corporate growth.QC 20230123</p

On the emergence and diffusion of technological capabilities and the theory of the MNC

This paper intersects extant theories of the MNC with empirically observed patterns in the intra-company emergence and diffusion of technological capabilities. It draws upon a database containing the complete patenting history of 24 Swedish multinationals over the 1890-2008 period, which allows for the identification of when and where in the multinational organization new technological capabilities first emerged, and when and to where they subsequently diffused into other units of the multinational organization. The results reveal an increasing share of foreign-introduced technological capabilities, as well as distinctive and differentiated diffusion patterns across headquarters, greenfield subsidiaries, and acquired units in the MNC group. We conclude that a theory of the MNC should recognize the shift towards more equal conditions for the generation of new technology within the multinational organization, but that within this overall development some conspicuous inequalities in intra-company capability diffusion remain to be accounted for.Cet article croise les théories existantes des FMN avec des modèles empiriques d’émergence et de diffusion de capacités technologiques au sein des multinationales. En s’appuyant sur une base de données, les auteurs identifient quand et où les nouvelles technologies apparaissent ainsi que les conditions de diffusions. Ils montrent que les filiales, qu’elles soient nouvellement créées ou acquises, ont une contribution croissante et que la vitesse et la probabilité de diffusion sont supérieures d’une filiale vers le centre qu’inversement. Ils différencient également les schémas de diffusion selon le type de filiales mettant en défaut le fait de considérer toutes les filiales de manière identique ainsi que le modélisent les théories de la firme.Este artículo intersecta teorías existentes sobre las CMN con patrones observados empíricamente durante la emergencia y difusión de capacidades tecnológicas intra-empresariales. Una base de datos longitudinal nos permite identificar cuándo y dónde una nueva tecnología apareció dentro de la organización multinacional, así como, cuándo y hacia qué otras unidades dentro de la organización multinacional ésta tecnología se difundió. El resultado revela una creciente participación de capacidades tecnológicas de origen extranjero, así como patrones de difusión distintos y diferenciados a través de las sedes centrales, las subsidiarias, y las unidades adquiridas por la corporación. Se concluye que cualquier teoría de CMN debe reconocer diferencias persistentes en la difusión de las capacidades dentro de la empresa las cuales no han sido suficientemente tomadas en cuenta en estudios anteriores

Quo Vadis? : The entry into new technologies in advanced foreign subsidiaries of the multinational enterprise

The international business literature has identified the overall emergence of technologically advanced foreign subsidiaries of the multinational enterprise (MNE), but little is known about the extent to which individual subsidiaries are able to sustain their contribution to the technological and strategic renewal of the multinational group. This paper takes on this neglected question by empirically investigating longitudinal patterns in advanced foreign subsidiaries’ entry into technologies that are new to the entire multinational group. Repeated events analysis that draws upon the complete US patenting by 211 greenfield subsidiaries of 21 Swedish multinationals over the period 1893–2008 reveals accelerated entry into new technologies, but at moderate hazard rates. The results lend support for established theorizing about the evolution of technological capabilities in greenfield subsidiaries, but question extreme views on their growing strategic importance for the MNE. It appears instead that significant additions to the technological and strategic renewal of the multinational group should be discussed in the context of a select number of “superstar” subsidiaries, not necessarily what are believed to be general developments across all subsidiaries of the MNE

Trumpism, Brexit, Industry 4.0, and COVID-19: What is happening to globalization? : A Review of the Literature on Economic Globalization

I this literature review we provide an overview and sorting of a large number of studies adressing the question of the current changes with respect to economic globalization. </p