The New Multinationals
Spanish Firms in a Global Context

Documents the rise of a new breed of multinational companies that are reshaping competition in global industries.

Mauro F. Guillén (Author), Esteban García-Canal (Author)

9780521516143, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 September 2010

238 pages, 5 b/w illus. 16 tables
23.5 x 15.8 x 2 cm, 0.52 kg

'The sudden surge in outward direct investment by multinational enterprises from the so-called emerging economies is highly significant and demands concerted scholarly attention. Through their insightful assessment of select world-class firms from different industrial sectors in Spain and Latin America, Professors Mauro Guillén and Esteban García-Canal make an excellent and timely contribution. They convincingly demonstrate how these firms are not just following well-trodden paths set by the more established multinational but are instead charting their own paths through a wider array or managerial and organizational capabilities. A thought-provoking book. Both managers as well as students of multinational firms should find much in this book to stimulate them.' Anoop Madhok, Schulich School of Business, York University

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.

List of figures
List of tables
1. The new multinationals
2. Traditional and new multinationals
3. Diversification and vertical integration in traditional industries
4. Market access and technology in durable consumer goods
5. Serving global customers in producer goods
6. Learning by doing in infrastructure and financial services
7. Competing in hard and soft services
8. Toward a new theory of the multinational enterprise
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: International business [KJK], Business & management [KJ], Economics, finance, business & management [K], International relations [JPS]