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The Internationalization of Chinese Firms: A Case forTheoretical Extension?1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

John Child  and
Suzana B. Rodrigues
John Child
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham, UK
Suzana B. Rodrigues
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham, UK
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Abstract

This paper examines the patterns of, and motives for, internationalizationby prominent market-seeking Chinese firms. Case studies of these firmsindicate that they are seeking technological and brand assets to create acompetitive position in international markets. While mainstream theory tendsto assume that firms internationalize to exploit competitive advantages,Chinese firms are generally making such investments in order to addresscompetitive disadvantages. They are engaging in ‘inward’internationalization by means of original equipment manufacture (OEM) andjoint venture partnerships, and ‘outward’ internationalization by means ofacquisition and organic expansion abroad. Each of these routes offerscertain benefits coupled with its own challenges or risks. The paperconcludes that the Chinese case offers an opportunity to extend presenttheorizing in four primary areas concerning the latecomer perspective andcatch-up strategies, institutional analysis with reference to the role ofgovernment, the relations between entrepreneurs and institutions, and theliability of foreignness.

Type
Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , November 2005 , pp. 381 - 410
Copyright
Copyright © International Association for Chinese Management Research 2005

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Footnotes

[1]

The authors wish to thank Yadong Luo, MOR Senior Editor, and reviewersfor their insightful and positive comments on an earlier version ofthis paper.

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