This research seeks to provide a more concise understanding of multinational Greenfield strategies in emerging markets. A lot has been written pertaining to their conduct in established markets and this has proven inadequate as far as application to emerging markets is concerned. Scholars have developed theories on how multinationals operate but how practical are they on the ground?A two case study approach was seen as the most effective way to grasp the complexities involved in managing multinational firms in emerging markets. The scope was limited to sub Saharan Africa with two retail giants Shoprite and Game being the subject of scrutiny. Literature was developed on the basis of results of previous research and enhanced by in-depth interviews with top retail managers directly involved in the expansion process. Similarities and contrasts between the two firms’ strategies where examined with the aim of acquiring insights on retail Greenfield investments in emerging markets.The findings revealed that in emerging markets successful MNEs are the ones that target customers at the bottom of the pyramid whilst internalising risk and constraints within the context of institutional voids. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Ciências Empresariais / Nos últimos anos, talvez nenhum assunto na área da Gestão Internacional tenha recebido o mesmo nível de atenção como a escolha do modo de entrada de IDE, em particular, a decisão entre adquirir uma empresa estrangeira já existente ou estabelecer uma nova filial no exterior. Todavia, os resultados, longe de serem consensuais, têm sido fornecidos por estudos ao nível da empresa. Uma questão interessante, e ainda não explorada, é a evidência empírica acerca da existência de factores macroeconómicos específicos a cada modo de entrada. Uma outra problemática que carece igualmente de investigação diz respeito aos efeitos potenciais que as F&A internacionais e os investimentos de raiz (IR) exercem no crescimento económico dos países recipientes. Estas constituem as duas questões centrais deste trabalho. Ao nível da primeira questão, estendemos o trabalho de Globerman e Shapiro (2005) com vista a investigar, não só os determinantes macroeconómicos específicos das F&A internacionais, mas também os dos IR, adoptando um painel de 53 países, ao longo do período 1996-2006. Encontramos evidência que nos permite concluir que, apesar da existência de um conjunto de variáveis que são comuns a todos os modos de IDE (como a dimensão da economia, o grau de abertura ao exterior, o índice de governação e o índice de desenvolvimento humano), existem outras variáveis que parecem ser específicas do modo de entrada. Entre estas, o grau de protecção ao investidor e as variáveis associadas ao contexto cultural parecem desempenhar um papel importante na explicação das F&A internacionais e dos IR, respectivamente. Além disso, não encontramos diferenças significativas entre os países desenvolvidos e os países em desenvolvimento, no que respeita aos determinantes específicos do modo de entrada Na segunda questão foi conduzida uma análise inovadora para estudar a relação entre o IDE e o crescimento económico, distinguindo entre os efeitos das F&A internacionais e os dos IR. A evidência sugere a existência de uma relação causal bidireccional entre o IDE / as F&A e o crescimento económico. Constatamos ainda que o crescimento económico causa os IR, mas o inverso não é verdadeiro. Adicionalmente, com base na estimação de um modelo estrutural de crescimento, os resultados indicam uma relação positiva entre o IDE de raiz e o crescimento económico, em ambos os grupos de países. Ao invés, as F&A internacionais tendem a exercer um impacto negativo no crescimento económico dos países em desenvolvimento e não significativo, no caso dos países desenvolvidos. / In the last years there were few subjects in International Management that have received so much level of attention as the FDI entry mode choice, in particular, the decision between acquiring an already existing foreign firm or establishing a new firm in a foreign country. However, the results, far from being consensual, have been supplied by firm-level studies. An interesting question, not yet explored, is the empirical evidence related to the existence of macroeconomic mode-specific determinants. Another issue which requires investigation is related to the potential effects that cross border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and greenfield investments cause on host countries economic growth. These are the two central questions of the present study. In what concerns the first question, we extended the work by Globerman and Shapiro (2005) in order to investigate, not only the macroeconomic specific determinants of cross border M&A, but also those of greenfield investments. We adopted a panel data set of 53 countries, over the period 1996-2006. We have found evidence that allow us to conclude that, despite the existence of a group of mode-encompassing variables (such as economy s size, openness, governance and human development index) there are others that seem to be mode-specific variables. Among these, the degree of investor protection and cultural context variables seem to play an important role in the explanation of cross border M&A and greenfield investments, respectively. In addition, we did not found significant differences between developed and developing countries, with respect to entry mode-specific determinants. In the second question a new approach was introduced to study the relationship between FDI and economic growth, while distinguishing the effects of cross border M&A and the ones of greenfield investments. The evidence suggests that there is bidirectional causality between FDI / M&A and economic growth. We have also concluded that economic growth causes greenfields, but the reverse is not true. Moreover, based on the estimation of a structural growth model, the results indicate a positive relationship between greenfield investments and economic growth, in both groups of countries. Instead, cross border M&A seem to exert a negative effect on the economic growth of developing countries and insignificant on developed countries.