Title: Emerging market MNEs as meta-integrators: the importance of internal networks

Authors: Rajneesh Narula

Addresses: Henley Business School, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6UD, UK

Abstract: The modern MNE has to be a 'meta-integrator', able to leverage knowledge within and between its different constituent affiliates, which requires efficient internal markets and well-structured cross-border hierarchies. The current generation of EMNEs need to strengthen their ownership advantages to achieve such internal embeddedness, which are hard to acquire, and must be learnt. I frame this discussion in the ongoing debate about the nature of ownership advantages. The ability to be competitive in an era of globalisation depends as much on the EMNE's technological assets as it does on its ability to achieve economies of common governance. The EMNE has to be able to promote internal knowledge flows, both to and from the parent, as well as between affiliates located in different countries. This is essential to achieve organisational, scale and scope economies.

Keywords: ownership advantages; emerging country MNEs; EMNEs; organisational skills; technological assets; knowledge flows; embeddedness; internationalisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2017.083625

International Journal of Technology Management, 2017 Vol.74 No.1/2/3/4, pp.214 - 220

Published online: 12 Apr 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article