The competitive advantages of emerging market multinationals: a re-assessment

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 216-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Chain Structure ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Global Value Chain ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Emerging Market Multinationals ◽  
Bric Countries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to re-assess both the nature and sources of the competitive advantages which multinationals expanding from home bases in emerging economies (EMNEs) may enjoy in the global market. Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses the results of 12 concurrent studies undertaken by a group of experts who were asked to examine how strategies for innovation, international value chain configuration and foreign mergers and acquisitions contributed to the competitive advantages of multinationals emerging from Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRICs), respectively. Findings – EMNEs do have competitive advantages that can underpin their expansion abroad, but these are mainly “non-traditional” advantages that have been built by finding innovative ways to leverage advantages of their home countries. EMNE’s internationalisation is as much about accessing new resources and knowledge to enable them to extend their competitive advantage, as it is a route to exploiting existing advantages over a larger set of markets. As a result, the global value chain structure of EMNEs tends to be fundamentally different from that chosen by incumbent multinationals. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to EMNEs from the BRIC countries, but implications for EMNEs emerging from other countries are discussed. Originality/value – We bring to bear extensive data and a systematic approach to understanding the new breed of multinationals emerging from the BRIC countries; their sources of competitive advantage; and how they are using innovation, foreign investment and overseas acquisitions to transform global competition.

scholarly journals Parenting advantages of emerging market multinationals (EMNCs) in luxury fashion retailing

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huifeng Bai ◽  
Weijing He ◽  
Jin Shi ◽  
Julie McColl ◽  
Christopher Moore
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Brand Management ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Resource Utilisation ◽  
Retail Sector ◽  
Sampling Frame ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Emerging Market Multinationals ◽  
International Retailing

PurposeThis empirical research, adopting an international retailing perspective, aims to examine the parenting advantages offered by emerging market multinationals (EMNCs) in luxury fashion retail sector.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers adopted a qualitative case study, and the qualitative data were collected through ten semi-structured interviews with senior managers.FindingsIt is a win–win situation for the EMNCs as parent groups of Western luxury fashion brands, as the EMNCs can access critical assets including advanced brand management expertise, retailing know-how, and the services skills needed for higher income consumers. Meanwhile, the subsidiary brands benefit from a high degree of autonomy, intra-group resource utilisation, a competitive brand portfolio and most importantly economies of scales in the value chain, particularly in production. The perceived risks of EMNCs ownership include potentially restricted autonomy and the uncertainty over corporate development activities in the future, as well as the risks of diluting brand image caused by the inconsistency between country of origin and country of ownership.Research limitations/implicationsVery few EMNCs have moved into luxury fashion retailing to date, which means that the sampling frame was small. The findings were generated from China, which is perceived to be of considerable psychic distance in terms of culture and policies compared to other emerging markets that have been heavily influenced by colonialism.Practical implicationsThis paper suggests that practitioners, particularly EMNCs, support their subsidiary luxury fashion brands through parenting advantages and develop their own high-end fashion brands through internationalisation.Originality/valueThis empirical study contributes to the current international retailing literature by offering in depth insights of parenting advantages offered by EMNCs in luxury fashion retailing. It also enriches the EMNC literature, which has mainly adopted an international business scope, by extending this understanding into luxury fashion retailing.

Driving the internet and e-business technologies to generate a competitive advantage in emerging markets

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 389-423
Author(s):  
Gamal Mohamed Shehata ◽  
Mohammed A. Montash
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Markets ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Major Market

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically examine a comprehensive model that attempts to identify the factors that explain competitive advantage of implementing electronic business (e-business) in an emerging market. It seeks to fulfill an inevitable lack of conducting rigorous and intensive empirical studies on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in which the internet use and e-business applications are on the rise. Design/methodology/approach This research is descriptive in nature where a quantitative research methodology is deployed. Data are collected using both interviews and e-survey for a sample of 302 Egyptian companies serving in diverse industries. A multivariate partial least squares technique is employed to analyze the collected data. Findings This study explores various e-business modes and applications widely employed in the MENA region. It also addresses a set of e-business-driven competitive advantages that are mainly generated from supportive ICT environment, major market forces and strategic opportunities, and at last, from electronically driven customers’ relationship initiatives. A number of e-business barriers are claimed to moderate the relationship between those forces and the resulting competitive advantages. Research limitations/implications Although this research main framework incorporates important variables based on theoretical and empirical foundations, integrating other factors may extend understanding of how these factors, independently and/or interactively, explain the adoption of e-business and its merit to create distinctive competitive advantage. Practical implications This work helps managers and e-business experts alike to comprehend the ways through which firms target the applications of e-business technologies to realize a competitive edge in MENA region. It also helps practitioners and professionals comprehend the interrelationship between the type of forces drive e-business based competitive position and key barriers that deteriorate such a connection in emerging markets. Originality/value A model that enables scholars to better understanding the e-business phenomenon in MENA market is developed and validated. This model rests on e-business experts’ perspectives, reflections and it is evidently substantiated by past works in the areas.

The role of innovation in building competitive advantages: an empirical investigation

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prodromos Chatzoglou ◽  
Dimitrios Chatzoudes
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

Purpose Nowadays, innovation appears as one of the main driving forces of organisational success. Despite the above fact, its impact on the propensity of an organisation to develop and sustain a competitive advantage has not yet received sufficient empirical investigation. The purpose of this paper is to enhance the existing empirical literature by focusing on the antecedents of innovation and its impact on competitive advantage. It proposes a newly developed conceptual framework that adopts a three-step approach, highlighting areas that have rarely been simultaneously examined before. Design/methodology/approach The examination of the proposed conceptual framework was performed with the use of a newly developed structured questionnaire that was distributed to a group of Greek manufacturing companies. The questionnaire has been successfully completed by chief executive officers (CEOs) from 189 different companies. CEOs were used as key respondents due to their knowledge and experience. The reliability and the validity of the questionnaire were thoroughly examined. Empirical data were analysed using the structural equation modelling technique. The study is empirical (based on primary data), explanatory (examines cause and effect relationships), deductive (tests research hypotheses) and quantitative (includes the analysis of quantitative data collected with the use of a structured questionnaire). Findings Results indicate that knowledge management, intellectual capital, organisational capabilities and organisational culture have significant direct and indirect effects on innovation, underlining the importance of their simultaneous enhancement. Finally, the positive effect of innovation on the creation of competitive advantages is empirically validated, bridging the gap in the relevant literature and offering avenues for additional future research. Originality/value The causal relationship between innovation and competitive advantage, despite its significant theoretical support, has not been empirically validated. The present paper aspires to bridge this gap, investigating the impact of innovation on the development of competitive advantages. Moreover, the present study adopts a multidimensional approach that has never been explored in the existing innovation literature, making the examination of the proposed conceptual framework an interesting research topic.

Home country underdevelopment and internationalization

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra ◽  
Ravi Ramamurti
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Markets ◽  
Comparative Advantage ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Emerging Market Multinationals ◽  
Economic Underdevelopment ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
At Home

Purpose The purpose of this study is to use the rise of emerging-market multinationals as a vehicle to explore how a firm’s country of origin influences its internationalization. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a conceptual paper. Findings We argue that the home country’s institutional and economic underdevelopment can influence the internationalization of firms in two ways. First, emerging-market firms may leverage innovations made at home to cope with underdeveloped institutions or economic backwardness to gain a competitive advantage abroad, especially in other emerging markets; We call this innovation-based internationalization. Second, they may expand into countries that are more developed or have better institutions to escape weaknesses on these fronts at home; we call this escape-based internationalization. Research limitations/implications Comparative disadvantages influence the internationalization of the firm differently from comparative advantage, as it forces the firm to actively upgrade its firm-specific advantage and internationalize. Practical implications We explain two drivers of internationalization that managers operating in emerging markets can consider when facing disadvantages in their home countries and follow several strategies, namely, trickle-up innovation, self-reliant innovation, improvisation management, self-reliance management, technological escape, marketing escape, institutional escape and discriminatory escape. Originality/value We explain how a firm’s home country’s comparative disadvantage, not just its comparative advantage, can spur firms its internationalization.

Business strategies responding to COVID-19: experience of Chinese corporations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minyu Wu ◽  
Kun Kong
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Society Business ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
Strategic Csr ◽  
Mixed Approach ◽  
Business In Society

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives adopted by Chinese firms during the outbreak of COVID-19. Facing this unknown, unexpected and devastating disease, Chinese corporations demonstrated their CSR in different approaches. The purpose of this paper is to explore how CSR influences the decisions of the corporations that respond to a severe incident and how corporations can achieve their mission or strategic objectives by responding to a serious incident. Design/methodology/approach Based on secondary data and thematic analysis, this paper examines six Chinese corporations which are the leading firms in their respective industries. Findings This paper finds that firms adopted a mixed approach to conducting their CSR initiatives, including altruistic, strategic and citizenship CSR initiatives. This paper also confirms that strategic CSR initiatives were in line with the five dimensions of strategic CSR including centrality, specificity, proactivity, visibility and voluntarism. In addition, this paper also shows that a company could create its competitive advantage by carrying out CSR initiatives that are able to strengthen its value chain activities or the competitive context. This is based on the partnership built by the firms with their stakeholders to recognize the shared value. Practical implications This paper shows the implication that business leaders should understood the role of a business in society and the importance of stakeholders’ expectations. The underlying philosophy is that CSR could strengthen the resilience of society; business organizations need to operate in a healthy society. Originality/value This paper provides insights of Chinese corporations responding to a severe social incident. It highlights the strategic perspective of CSR initiatives and the linkage between CSR activities and a firm’s competitive advantage.

Institution building and institutional voids

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheila M. Puffer ◽  
Daniel J McCarthy ◽  
Alfred M Jaeger
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Institutional Voids ◽  
Formal Institutions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Bric Countries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a comparative analysis of institutions and institutional voids in Russia, Brazil, and Poland over the decades of the 1980s through to 2015. The paper asserts that Russia and Brazil could learn much from Poland regarding formal institution building and formal institutional voids that cause problems like corruption and limit economic growth. Design/methodology/approach – A comparative case study approach is utilized to assess the relative success of the three emerging market countries in transitioning to a market economy, viewed through the lens of institutional theory. Findings – Poland’s experience in building successful formal institutions and mitigating major institutional voids can be instructive for Russia and Brazil which have shown far less success, and correspondingly less sustained economic growth. Research limitations/implications – This paper demonstrates the value of applying institutional theory to analyze the progress of emerging economies in transitioning to a market economy. Practical implications – This country comparison can prove valuable to other emerging economies seeking a successful transition to a market economy. Social implications – Since institutions are the fabric of any society, the emphasis on institutions in this paper can have positive implications for society in emerging markets. Originality/value – This paper is an original comparison of two BRIC countries with a smaller emerging economy, utilizing institutional theory. Factors contributing to Poland’s success are compared to Russia and Brazil to assess how those countries might be positively informed by Poland’s experience in building and strengthening sustainable formal institutions as well as avoiding institutional voids and their associated problems.

Factor analysis for balanced scorecard as measuring competitive advantage of infrastructure assets of owned state ports in Indonesia

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 386-401
Author(s):  
Nurdjanah Hamid
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Balanced Scorecard ◽  
The Other ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internal Process ◽  
Financial Perspective ◽  
Customer Perspective ◽  
Process Perspective

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the factor analysis for balanced scorecard (BSC) as measuring competitive advantage of infrastructure assets of owned state ports in Indonesia: Pelindo IV, Makassar, Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach This investigation adopts an explanatory and an exploratory qualitative case study method to analyze the effectiveness of BSC over the strategy management processes. For data collection, the researchers have used semi-structured interviews, direct observation and document collection. Data collection was made during a six-month period, which allowed gaining of deep knowledge on the culture and management methods used in alpha. Other data collected refer to the company’s documentation and reporting of online media publications. Detailed interview data are the main data sources, which allow obtaining of a detailed and holistic understanding of the experience, opinions and attitudes of the interviewees. Interviews focus on asset management to determine the relationship between various factors. This study adopts ideal BSC principle (four perspectives) to develop strategic map for infrastructure asset of Pelindo IV. Analysis tools using factor analysis for the indicators (financial, customer, learning-growth and internal process) measure the competitive advantages. The data for factor analysis from the perception of each stakeholder using questionnaire are collected. Findings The competitive advantages of Pelindo IV depend on 81.2 per cent from financial perspective, customer perspective, internal process perspective and learning perspective, and 18.2 per cent from the other factor. The result of measurement model of competitive advantage in Figure 2 is significantly (p-value < 0.05) measured by financial perspective performance, customer perspective performance, internal process perspective performance and learning perspective performance. On the basis of the highest coefficient loading factor, it can be shown that the most powerful competitive advantages are measured by learning perspective. The high value of competitive advantage of Pelindo IV, Makassar, Indonesia, is especially seen from the learning perspective performance. The order result of BSC for measuring the competitive advantages is as follows: learning perspective performance, financial perspective performance, customer perspective performance and internal process perspective performance. Originality/value Originality of this study looks at the following three points: first, the measurement competitive advantages. Previous studies used measurements of cost leadership strategy, differential strategy and focus strategy as competitive advantages measuring (Porter, 1985; Warf and Stutz, 2007; Clulow et al., 2003). This study uses BSCs with four indicators (financial perspective result, customer perspective result, internal process perspective result and learning perspective). Second, on the other hand, several studies have investigated the BSCs as performance measurement (Ozturk and Coskun, 2014; Malgwi and Dahiru, 2014; Binden et al., 2014). Third, this study uses the factor analysis to measure the competitive advantage by BSCs, which is different from the previous study analysis.

The effect of leadership orientation on innovation and its relationship with competitive advantages of small and medium enterprises in Indonesia

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 530-542
Author(s):  
Samsir Samsir
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Leadership Orientation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Typical Food ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of leadership orientation on competitive advantage with innovation as a mediating (intervening) variable. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative methods (Creswell, 2010) are used as the study design. It is an explanatory research with the purpose of explaining the phenomenon or pattern of correlation between concepts (Kothary, 2004). SMEs (small and medium entrepreneurs) of typical food products of Riau domiciled in Kepulauan Meranti Regency are the focus of this study; the sample size included 258 respondents. Findings There is a significant effect of leadership orientation on innovation. Higher leadership orientation will result in higher innovation. There is a significant effect of innovation on competitive advantage. Higher innovation will result in higher competitive advantage. Innovation as a mediation variable in the relationship between leadership orientation and competitive advantage indicates that higher leadership orientation will cause a higher competitive advantage, if the mediated innovation is also higher. Originality/value The originality of this research lies in innovation as a mediating (intervening) variable and a complement of a previous study by including the indicator that measures the variables of the research so that research results can be completed and detailed.

Competitive advantage in algorithmic trading: a behavioral innovation economics approach

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricky Cooper ◽  
Wendy L. Currie ◽  
Jonathan J.M. Seddon ◽  
Ben Van Vliet
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Strategic Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Model ◽  
Internal Conflict ◽  
Algorithmic Trading ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Organizational Survival ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThis paper investigates the strategic behavior of algorithmic trading firms from an innovation economics perspective. The authors seek to uncover the sources of competitive advantage these firms develop to make markets inefficient for them and enable their survival.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the authors review expected capability, a quantitative behavioral model of the sustainable, or reliable, profits that lead to survival. Second, they present qualitative data gathered from semi-structured interviews with industry professionals as well as from the academic and industry literatures. They categorize this data into first-order concepts and themes of opportunity-, advantage- and meta-seeking behaviors. Associating the observed sources of competitive advantages with the components of the expected capability model allows us to describe the economic rationale these firms have for developing those sources and explain how they survive.FindingsThe data reveals ten sources of competitive advantages, which the authors label according to known ones in the strategic management literature. We find that, due to the dynamically complex environments and their bounded resources, these firms seek heuristic compromise among these ten, which leads to satisficing. Their application of innovation methodology that prescribes iterative ex post hypothesis testing appears to quell internal conflict among groups and promote organizational survival. The authors believe their results shed light on the behavior and motivations of algorithmic market actors, but also of innovative firms more generally.Originality/valueBased upon their review of the literature, this is the first paper to provide such a complete explanation of the strategic behavior of algorithmic trading firms.

IKEA Inc.: the India way

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Neetu Yadav
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Markets ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
International Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Academic Level

Learning outcomes Learning outcomes are as follows: to learn about the application of Bartlett and Ghoshal’s model of international strategy; to compare and contrast the global strategy of IKEA in India and China; and to understand how adaptability can create a new competitive advantage in emerging markets. Case overview/synopsis The case study enables discussion about the global strategy of a well-established multi-national company, IKEA in an emerging market. IKEA is a well-established and well-known brand in the international market in furniture retailing. It has decided to make a debut in India in 2017 with its first store in Hyderabad. However, it was yet to open it in 2018. The case emphasizes upon understanding the global strategy of IKEA, positioning itself in the fragmented Indian furniture industry, managing differences in emerging markets and adapting to the local environment of the particular country. The case highlights how adaptability can create a new competitive advantage in managing global strategy in different countries of emerging markets. Complexity academic level This case study is developed for post-graduate management programs as an MBA, Executive MBA and executive development programs. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document