Download - Reinert/Windows on the World Economy, 2005 International Competition and Management CHAPTER 11
Reinert/Windows on the World Economy, 2005
International Competition and Management
CHAPTER 11
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Introduction
Swedish forest and paper products firm Svenska Cellulosa Anktiebolaget (SCA) had a successful internationalization strategy Based on FDI in corrugated box and recycled newsprint
in many Western European countries However important questions remain
Was there anything characterizing the home base of SCA that contributed to its competitive success or competitive advantage?
When a firm such as SCA distributes its production facilities over many countries, does its management techniques need to change?
This chapter provides you with some initial answers to these questions
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The Porter Diamond and the Role of the Home Base
A competitive firm can choose from a number of trade, contractual, and investment modes of foreign market entry
Why can a particular firm in a particular home country develop and maintain its competitiveness as it moves through the trade, contractual, and investment modes of globalization? Why do particular firms accumulate the tangible and
intangible assets that support international competitiveness?
• Has a lot do with the home base of the firm
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The Porter Diamond and the Role of the Home Base
Porter introduced a diagram—the Porter diamond—that has become very well known Focuses on four central aspects of the home base, which
Porter views as the determinants of competitive advantage
• Factor conditions
• Demand conditions
• Related and supporting industries
• Firm strategy, structure, and rivalry
Main argument: “Nations are most likely to succeed in industries or industry segments where the national ‘diamond’ is most favorable”
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Figure 11.1 The Porter Diamond
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Porter Diamond
Factor conditions Porter considers labor, land, natural resources, and
physical capital to be basic factors that are largely inherited
More important from Porter’s point of view are advanced factors that are created which include
• Sophisticated infrastructure• Labor educated and trained in very specific ways• Focused research institutions
Porter also makes a distinction between • Generalized factors—can be used in a number of different
industries• Specialized factors—tailored for use in specific industries
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Porter Diamond
Demand conditions Stresses three aspects in the home base
• Demand composition Sophisticated, demanding, and anticipatory (anticipates
trends in global demand) home demand contributes to firms’ success
• Demand size and pattern of growth Large, rapidly-growing, and early home demand are positive
aspects of the home base
• Degree of internationalization The more home demand is synchronized with international
demand trends, the more it contributes to firms’ competitiveness
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Porter Diamond
Related and supporting industries Supplying industries in the home base has
several advantages in downstream industries• Efficient, early, rapid, and sometimes preferential
access to the most cost-effective inputs
• Ongoing coordination
• Innovation and upgrading
A competitive domestic supplier industry is better than relying on well-qualified foreign suppliers
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Porter Diamond
Firm strategy, structure, and rivalry One country differs from another with regard to
managerial systems and philosophies and with regard to capital markets
Institutional environments that allow firms to take a long-term view contribute positively to competitiveness
Presence of a large number of competing firms or rivals in the domestic industry
• Competition among firms is necessary for allocative efficiency in a market system, but domestic rivalry contributes to dynamic, technological efficiency
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Porter Diamond Interactions
Most important Interactions—all related to rivalry Domestic rivals—particularly when clustered in a
geographic region—contribute to the creation of factors• Especially specialized, advanced factors
A group of domestic rivals contribute to the presence of specialized and sophisticated suppliers
Rivalry among domestic firms producing differentiated products enlarges home demand and makes it more sophisticated
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Figure 11.2 Interaction in the Porter Diamond
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Spatial Clusters in the World Economy
Flexibility and home base concepts converge in spatial clustering Interlinked firms/activities that exist in the same local and regional
setting (in terms of economic, social, cultural and institutional factors)
AKA clusters, networks, centers of excellence, and industrial districts First noticed in Silicon Valley in the United States, in what is
now known as the Third Italy, in Southern Germany, and in East Asia
Much productive knowledge cannot be codified into explicit forms Rather, communicated via a highly social process of face-to-face
interaction over a relatively long period of time Consequently, innovation and learning is a spatially-located, social
and collective process among a group of firms
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Spatial Clusters in the World Economy
Why do spatial clusters contribute to the productivity of firms? Concentrated communication made possible by
a cluster increases learning and innovation• Contributes to the dynamic, technological efficiency of
firms in the cluster
Trust increases over time which facilitates contracting and exchange among firms
Common business culture develops which reduces uncertainty
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Spatial Clusters in the World Economy
A cluster exists within a milieu which consists of Cluster’s firms Knowledge embedded within the cluster Institutional environment Ties of the cluster’s firms to customers, research
institutions, educational institutions, and local government
Milieu supports the cluster with rules and norms for business activity, social cohesion, business culture, and government support
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Figure 11.3 A Value Chain Within a Spatial Cluster
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Spatial Clusters and Milieus
In its home base, a MNE obviously has the possibility of contributing to the local cluster and milieu
Also possible that a MNE can tap into selected foreign clusters and milieus In the local milieu where the (MNE) controls full-fledged operations
• Can be characterized as an insider• Linked to other firms in both formal and informal networks• Typically maintains close linkages to local research and education
facilities, governmental bodies, etc. Provide channels for rapid dissemination of knowledge and information Provide a basis for co-operation leading to a continuous stream of
improvements
Spatial clusters are important in both the home base and in the foreign operations of MNEs
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Multinational Management: The Local-Global Paradox
Ownership advantages offset the extra costs of doing business internationally
As a firm globalizes its production system it must decide upon Location of the components of the multinational value
network Coordination among these components Summarize some issues raised in book Managing Across
Borders: The Transnational Solution by Bartlett and Ghoshal (2002)
• A recurring theme relating to a creative tension between the local and the global—local-global paradox
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Multinational Management: The Local-Global Paradox
Strategic challenges faced by MNEs Global efficiency
• Obtained from economies of scale and scope
Local responsiveness• Involves using local facilities and personnel to tailor
goods and services to the needs and preferences of local consumers
Global innovation• Refers to the combined and complementary use of
innovations from many parts of the multinational value network
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Bartlett and Ghoshal (2002)
“Multinational” Firm Subsidiaries are distinct entities allowed to be very responsive to
their local environments Traditionally associated with European MNEs Good at delivering local responsiveness, but lacking in the areas of
global efficiency and innovation Global Firm
Subsidiaries are little more than means to deliver uniform goods and services to local markets
Home office of the global firm is very important in planning the realization of global economies of scale and scope
Traditionally associated with Japanese MNEs Good at delivering global efficiency; less effective in the areas of
local responsiveness and global innovation
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Bartlett and Ghoshal (2002)
International Firm Pursues a strategy concerned with disseminating the
parent company’s knowledge to the foreign markets Parent retains considerable influence and control, but
less than in a classic global company• National units can adopt products and ideas coming from the
center, but have less independence and autonomy than ‘multinational’ subsidiaries
Traditionally associated with US-based MNEs Good at delivering global innovation but not local
responsiveness and global efficiency
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Bartlett and Ghoshal (2002)
Argue in favor of a transnational model of global management A “flexible centralization/coordination” or an “integrated network”
• Role of subsidiaries is differentiated throughout the multinational value network, differing among countries
One subsidiary might only be involved in sales, while another is involved in R&D
• Coordination of the multinational value network is achieved using multiple methods
Flows of goods are coordinated through centralization Flows of resources are coordinated through formalization Flows of information are coordinated through socialization
Bartlett and Ghoshal advocate the rotation of personel throughout the network
• Disparate elements of the MNE are tied together in a coherent mission through the use of vision and innovative human resource development policies
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Table 11.1. Examples of Multi-Home-Based MNEs
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Schools of Thought on MNEs
Home-based—originates from a strategic and environmental perspective of how MNEs develop and sustain international competitive advantage Porter emphasizes the importance of the home base in
the process of upgrading competitive advantage
Heterarchical—originates from the field of organization and management of the MNE
A common theme MNE builds increasingly complex organizational
structures and management processes
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Schools of Thought on MNEs
Sölvell and Zander stress that the two models have a common ground The mechanisms for fluid exchange of information and upgrading of
competitive advantage which cannot be easily imitated by “outsiders”• Home-based model—mechanisms are related to the country or regional
level• Heterarchical MNE—related to the organizational level, linking diverse
influences from around the world through corporate culture
Knowledge is an important connection among the OLI framework, the Porter diamond, spatial clusters, and the transnational model Any understanding of the role of MNEs must include an
understanding of the development, transmission, and application of knowledge
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Cultural Issues
Another difficulty faced by MNEs is culture Adler (2002) argues that cross-cultural
business activities typically tend towards either highly effective outcomes or highly ineffective outcomes
Managing these sorts of relationships can involve a search for cultural synergy
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Cultural Issues Cultural dominance
MNE that imposes its own national or business culture on its foreign subsidiaries
• More powerful companies tend to use this approach Cultural accommodation
MNE tries to blend into their host country culture at all costs Cultural avoidance
Both MNE and hosts pretend as if there were no cultural differences• Weak base on which to build long-term business relationships across cultures
Cultural compromise MNE and partners meet each other half way, sometimes literally, conducting
business in a third country Another method
Look for ways in which the two cultures can reinforce each other or compromise in specific ways that benefit both sides
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Figure 11.4 The Search for Cultural Synergies