THE NEW MULTINATIONALS

A new breed of multinational companies is reshaping competition in global industries. For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, multinational firms came from the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Over the last two decades, however, new multinational firms from upper-middle-income economies (e.g. Spain, Ireland, Portugal, South Korea, and Taiwan), developing countries (e.g. Egypt, Indonesia, and Thailand), and oil-rich countries (e.g. United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Russia, and Venezuela) have become formidable global competitors. These firms do not necessarily possess technological or marketing skills. In contrast to the classic multinationals, they found strength in their ability to organize, manage, execute, and network. They pursued a variety of strategies including vertical integration, product diversification, learning by doing, exploration of new capabilities, and collaboration with other firms. This book documents this phenomenon, identifies key capabilities of the new multinationals, and provides a new conceptual framework to understand its causes and implications. 'The new multinationals are fundamentally different from old ones because they face entrenched multinational incumbents. Mauro F. Guillen and Esteban Garcia-Canal provide fascinating insights into how these new multinationals have nonetheless managed to emerge in a broad range of country contexts.' Pankaj Ghemawat, Anselmo Rubiralta Chair of Global Strategy, IESE Business School 'Spanish multinationals have shown the world that competitiveness is based on the innovation of an organizational and managerial kind. This book explains exactly how they have become global leaders in industries as diverse as wines, clothing, appliances, infrastructure, utilities, and banking.' Alvaro Cuervo, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Director of CUNEF and Board Member, ACS, BME and SONAE 'Over the last two decades, Spain has become a leading player in the world economy. In this book, Professors Guillen and Garcia-Canal document the business side of this success story....CONTINÚA