Multinational companies (MNCs) based in 26 post-communist transition economies (PTEs) emerged during the 1990s. Their outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) boomed dramatically from 2000 to 2007 in ...these countries, and then muddled through the financial crisis and great recession at difference paces on different paths. This difference is revealed in a sample of 15 PTEs for which data are available from 2000 to 2015. Most of these economies appear to be on the brink of moving from the second to the third stage of Dunning's investment development path. The geographical distribution of their OFDI favors host countries located in other PTEs, developed market economies, and tax havens while their industrial structure is more concentrated on services rather than on manufacturing and the primary sector. PTE-based MNCs primarily adopt a strategy of market-seeking OFDI.
Econometric testing shows that push factors are major determinants of OFDI. The results demonstrate that OFDI is determined by the home country's level of economic development, the size of its home market, and its rate of growth as well as technological variables: OFDI decreases with an increase in the number of scientists in the home economy and with an increase in the share of high-tech products in overall exports, exhibiting a negative technological gap. A lagged relationship between OFDI and previous inward FDI suggests that Mathews’ linkage-leverage-learning theory is relevant in the case of PTEs.
This paper focuses on training and development (T&D) policies and practices to explore how multinational companies (MNCs) localise their human resources within their subsidiaries in a developing ...country. It uses qualitative research methods to examine three US and three Japanese MNCs operating in the automotive and fast‐moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry in Vietnam. The paper identifies both home‐ and host‐country effects as significant factors in the transfer of MNCs' T&D policies and practices. Clear home‐country effects are evident in rigorous attempts of both US and Japanese MNCs to transfer and implement formalised and centrally controlled training programs. Host‐country effects manifest themselves in the instability of the institutional environment, weak associations among employers’ groups, and fragmented bargaining practices that encourage employer and employee opportunism, particularly ‘poaching’ and ‘job‐hopping’. These lead to MNCs' hesitation to invest in T&D, and the lack of job rotation and a tendency to train ‘specialists’ rather than ‘generalists’ in the Japanese firms. The paper also discusses the interaction of foreign owned and indigenous firms in a very tight labour market at the highly skilled end that results in a ‘brain drain’ phenomenon on human resource development (HRD).
The main purpose of this paper was to investigate and identify which transfer pricing methods are applied in related companies in Croatia, as well as to give certain recommendations that would ...improve the control of transfer pricing in Croatia. The primary data for this study were collected through the survey which was conducted on a sample of related companies from the real sector in Croatia in 2008, and again in 2012. Results obtained in this study indicated that the issues related to transfer pricing still are not significantly represented and understood in business practice in Croatia. The research results also showed that the majority of related companies in Croatia apply the cost method of determining the transfer prices. Furthermore, the research results showed that in 2008 the comparable uncontrolled price method was the most frequently used OECD method of determining transfer prices in related companies in Croatia, while in 2012 all OECD methods of determining transfer prices were equally applied.
For most of its history, Brazil needed to import oil to complement its internal production to supply the internal demand. However, in 2007, the Brazilian Federal Government announced the discovery of ...huge hydrocarbon resources in the pre-salt layer of the country's Southeastern coast. This study examines the impact of this discovery accomplished by Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) on patent applications in Brazil associated with upstream oil and gas technologies. Then, this article provides empirical evidence that the pre-salt discovery significantly affected patent strategizing of Multi-Nationals Companies (MNCs) operating in the upstream oil and gas industry, thereby generating a boom in patent filings in Brazil from the official pre-salt announcement onwards.
•Analysis of patenting in Brazil in response to new discovery of gas and oil reserves.•Conclusion 1: Major increase in patenting in Brazil in this field from 2007.•Conclusion 2: 75% of the main companies involved are from the USA.•Conclusion 3: Some similarities and differences noted in the companies' strategies.•Conclusion 4: Similar but less pronounced patenting increase at the USPTO.
The purpose of this paper is to construct a theoretical model that explains the process of governing subsidiaries to enhance their relational behavior in exportimport relationships within a ...multinational corporation. Grounded in the theoretical framework of the relational contracting paradigm, the analysis is focused on the contracting and other constraining issues that influence this process. The theoretical development of the model explains how a global management staffing mechanism can be designed to mitigate subsidiary contracting issues and facilitate expansion and the integration of exportimport relationships in the global value chain of the multinational organization.
As an exploratory study on rural and urban consumers in an emerging market like China, this paper presents empirical evidence about the impacts of economic development on consumer lifestyles. Chinese ...rural and urban consumers were found to be statistically different in terms of their attitudes toward the whole marketing mix: product price, brand names, promotions and distribution. Possibly as a result of these disparate attitudes, rural and urban consumers were found to use different products to reflect the improvement of their living standards. All of these previous differences might be due to the fact that rural and urban Chinese consumers have different needs, as indicated by the words they chose to describe their ideal image. These lifestyle differences reveal huge marketing potentials for MNCs and other foreign investors, who will ultimately move into China's relatively untapped rural regions for marketing opportunities.
Industry 4.0, digitalization, and artificial intelligence are the most often-mentioned factors that influence the competitiveness of companies in an innovative future. This study highlights the ...connections between these areas from the point of view of the management of industrial companies, revealing the challenges from theoretical and practical viewpoints. The most important questions are: On what level are organizations preparing for the digital future? What differences are perceived among the problems of multinational companies (MNCs) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)? How do managers prepare for change and what changes are they making as they keep the concept of “smart” technologies in mind? This study highlights the results of a qualitative study conducted in 2018–19 using structured deep interviews with 195 higher leaders of MNCs and SMEs (NVivo 12 was used to analyze the answers). The results show that although managers see and feel the urgent challenges, they are not dealing with additional demands beyond technical developments. Handling of human problems is the most serious task; however, managers are continually postponing decisions related to these problems. Overall, even in the largest companies, managers have not arranged anything in preparation for changes or new leadership styles relevant to the digital future.
This paper discusses how multinational employees who are leaving in Bucharest, Romania use social networks as a tool for their everyday tasks and work, and how they want to satisfy their personal ...development needs by having access to information from these digital platforms. The case study described was conducted in Bucharest in 2017 and followed a results analysis with structured tables and graphs. In the study took part 24 participants who were selected among multinational IT employees in Bucharest. Social networks contribute to employee's lifelong educational process: besides providing them positive gratification, they also contribute to their personal development and careers growth. Even though all individuals who participated in this study use social networks, more efforts should be done in order for companies in Bucharest to know the benefits of social networks and employee's opinion about their contribution to lifelong learning.
Purpose - Contemporary literature has paid scholarly attention to corruption from a variety of competing perspectives. However, broader accounts of the impact of corruption on development in ...developing countries are relatively scarce. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of corruption as a social impediment to development, which has a devastating effect on developing countries.Design methodology approach - The paper explores the relevant literature and the different perspectives that have been developed and conducted for investigating corruption in developing countries. The paper uses publicly available evidence to show that political, economic elite engaged in corrupt practices.Findings - The evidence shows that socio-political and economic development, politics, power, history and globalisation have continued to reproduce and transform the institutional structures and actors which have facilitated corrupt practices in developing countries. The review shows that large sums of government revenue have been undermined by the corrupt practices of the political and economic elite (both local and international), which have enriched a few, but impoverished most.Practical implications - The paper seeks to bring the anti-social activities of political, economic and professionals under scrutiny and offers some suggestions for reforms.Social implications - Corruption has played a major role in causing serious damage to the economic and social landscape in developing countries. This in turn, has undermined social welfare and also investment in the public services, thereby eroding the quality of life and producing a decline in average life expectancy.Originality value - The paper is a general review of literature and evidence on contemporary issues.
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