Management and organisation of knowledge creation in emerging markets: a perspective from subsidiaries of EU MNEs
Description
This paper analyses the performance characteristics of large firms engaged in the globalization of knowledge-creating activities, in comparison with firms that remain geographically concentrated in their innovation efforts. The study is based on approximately 500 of the world’s largest technologically active companies headquartered in the EU, Japan and the United States, which account for a significant share of global corporate R&D spending and European Patent Office (EPO) patenting. The analysis examines differences in firm size, innovation output, innovation intensity and economic performance between globalized and non-globalized firms. The results indicate that firms with geographically dispersed knowledge creation are, on average, larger, engage in higher levels of innovative activity and exhibit superior economic performance. However, differences in innovation intensity are minimal, suggesting that both groups allocate similar proportions of resources to innovation. The findings also highlight considerable sectoral variation: while most sectors follow the overall pattern, exceptions exist in industries such as aerospace and automobiles. Economic performance shows the greatest variation across sectors, with some sectors experiencing positive, negative or negligible relationships with globalization. These results underscore the importance of adopting a sector-specific approach when analysing the relationship between technology globalization and firm performance. The study also points to the need for deeper investigation into the costs and benefits of globalization versus concentration, and suggests that future research should incorporate improved financial data and dynamic analysis to better understand causal relationships.
Copyright Date
January 2011
Publication Date
1-1-2011
Pagination
30p.
Publisher
University of Sussex
Keywords
Knowledge management, Emerging market
