OECD Development Centre Working Papers
The OECD Development Centre links OECD members with developing and emerging economies and fosters debate and discussion to seek creative policy solutions to emerging global issues and development challenges. This series of working papers is intended to disseminate the OECD Development Centre’s research findings rapidly among specialists in the field concerned. These papers are generally available in the original English or French, with a summary in the other language.
- ISSN: 18151949 (online)
- https://doi.org/10.1787/18151949
Strengthening Productive Capacities in Emerging Economies through Internationalisation
Evidence from the Appliance Industry
The emergence of a “second wave” of developing-country multinational enterprises
(MNEs) in a variety of industries is one of the characterizing features of globalisation. These new
MNEs did not delay their internationalisation until they were large, as did most of their
predecessors, and often become global as a result of direct firm-to-firm contracting. Many grow
large as they internationalise; conversely, they internationalise in order to grow large. This is a
striking pattern which, if confirmed, indicates that enterprises from developing countries have
pursued distinctive approaches to internationalisation. It is a further interesting hypothesis to
investigate to what extent such firms, born as suppliers of established incumbents, have
leveraged on their “latecomer” status to accelerate their internationalisation.
This paper documents how emerging MNEs may follow quite different patterns to reach,
or at least approach, global competitiveness. In particular, it investigates how three latecomer
MNEs pursued global growth through accelerated internationalisation combined with strategic
and organisational innovation. Haier (China), Mabe (Mexico) and Arçelik (Turkey) emerged as
Dragon Multinationals in the large home appliances (so-called “white goods”) industry
Keywords: Haier, latecomer, emerging economies, internationalisation, multinational enterprises, Mabe, global value chains, white goods
JEL:
F23: International Economics / International Factor Movements and International Business / Multinational Firms; International Business;
M2: Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics / Business Economics
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