This thesis groups three papers examining the role of multi-location firms in the geographic diffusion of knowledge. The first chapter examines whether a firm's headquarters can tap into the knowledge pool in a remote location through FDI. Using U.S. patent data, I show that an R&D headquarters in location “A” cites third party patents from location “B” disproportionately (relative to a control group also from location “A”) when the firm has an R&D satellite in location “B”. This “satellite effect” on knowledge diffusion is economically significant, representing 47% of the knowledge flow premium associated with collocation. Furthermore, the effect is particularly strong for new knowledge, as well as in areas of satellite technological specialization. In addition, the results show that firms with stronger cross-location, intra-firm networks experience a larger satellite effect on knowledge diffusion. The second chapter studies the effects of remote satellites on outward knowledge flow with an international development focus. I find that the presence of a foreign MNC subsidiary increases the flow of knowledge from the MNC's headquarters to local firms. This effect is largest in countries and sectors with strong but not world-class capabilities, having both the motivation and absorptive capacity to learn from foreign parties. The results suggest that emerging country governments should promote inward FDI since the knowledge brought by multinationals spills over to local firms and boosts innovative capacity. The third chapter offers a theoretical foundation for thinking about the exchange of knowledge and ideas, and the role of remote satellites. I present a model where ideas are shared through social networks as modeled by repeated agent interactions. The mechanism at once explains three broad empirical findings: why the diffusion of ideas is highly localized, why ideas flow more easily within the firm, and why firms can access remote knowledge by establishing a presence in the remote location. A firm endogenously decides whether to establish a presence in a remote location and if so how much autonomy to award the remote agent. The relative importance of external vs. internal knowledge in the innovative process is a key determinant of the firm's organizational structure.

A widely respected consultancy firm predicts that the amount of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) into the petrochemical sector in China will reach USD 30 billion between 2000 and 2005. If we consider the huge investments in China announced by several renowned petrochemical MNCs (multinationals) such as BP, Exxon Mobil and Shell, we can quickly conclude that the chemical market in China has become one of the most attractive for investments. In a similar way, Company X has also followed this trend and increased its investment more than 250 Million USD in China. An interesting question arises, namely, why is China able to attract such huge investments from so many well-known MNCs including Company X ? What kind of operation risks are entailed when entering this attractive market still under communist rule? Further, why by contrast, is there so much less investment by this multinational company X in Taiwan ? My research has two objectives which can be summarized as follows : • To verify if the entry mode chosen by Company X accords with the academic theory about which I have learned in the IEMBA course. • To provide some clues about the entry modes for new entrants who are interested in investing in the chemical market either in Taiwan or in China. In principle, companies who want to go international can choose from a wide range of alternatives when deciding how to participate markets in the world. Firms use basically six different modes to enter foreign markets: (1) exporting, (2) turnkey projects, (3) licensing, (4) franchising, (5) establishing joint ventures with a host country firm and (6) setting up a whole owned subsidiary in the host country. Each entry mode is accompanied with respective advantages and disadvantages of which has to be evaluated by the concerned company to meet its needs in a specific business/ market environment. Traditionally, it has been usually the core competence and the extent of market openness for MNCs to drive the choices of entry mode into a new market. Key words: Entry Modes, Multinationals, Foreign Direct Investment

Talent is a relative term usually used to describe someone who is able to perform a task better than their peers. This implies that such people have additional skills, competencies aptitudes or areas of intrinsic motivation that they bring to their performance on the job. In Zimbabwe it is difficult to plan ahead as the skills base continues to shrink and competition is increasing among organisations for the limited talent that is available. The aim of this study is to establish whether and how Multinational companies (MNCs) operating in Zimbabwe are developing local talent. To ascertain the understanding of talent development, whether talent management is shaped by business strategies and effectively communicated and implemented across the organization and if local talent is utilized to its optimal and retained through innovative strategies. The study also extrapolates benefits that organizations realize from talent development and how the organizations can tackle the challenges they face. The researcher used a positivist approach. The research was positivist in that a survey was carried out using one systematic and structured questionnaire administered to human resources, secretariat and executive management of multinational organizations operating in Zimbabwe. Data collection was both quantitative and qualitative thus accommodating the phenomelogical approach. Whilst the study presupposes that the majority of companies in Zimbabwe have no definition of talent development tools therefore unable to identify, engage develop, deploy and retain high valued staff who have high potential for critical and leadership roles, the findings are that most multinationals operating in Zimbabwe do have talent management tools in place. The study identifies key talent development drivers. Recommendations on innovative recruiting, developing and retaining the talent required to fulfill the organisation's business strategies and plans in an effective and efficient way are proffered. An area of further study proposed is on the causes and effects of labour unrest and staff turnover in the country, multinational and local organizations and the impact and implications this has had on the socio economic environment and how a track of skills flight can be undertaken to ensure that such skills can be lured and accommodated back home when the economic and political environment improves. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Kwazulu-Natal, 2006.

This thesis analyses the reasons why the system of industrial relations on the United Kingdom continental shelf is very different from that which prevails both onshore and on the Norwegian continental shelf, where the same technology is used to produce an identical product. The scopeo f the researche ncompassesth e relationships of the trade unions and the offshore companies, both Norwegian and British, where they concern employment and related matters such as accident prevention and those interventions which govermnents have made in response to particular events. In addition research papers and other reports which have a close bearing on the human resource management of offshore employees have received attention. British trade unions have failed to win full recognition offshore after "first oil" because the oil companies have been determined to exclude them and have exhibited a cohesivenesso f purposei n this respectt hrough their formidable employers' association, UKOOA. By comparison trade union efforts have lacked cohesion on account of internal disputes and the indeterminate position of the IUOOC within the trade union structure. Even the assistance of a friendly disposed government which persuaded the employers to permit recruitment visits offshore has had no effect on membership which remains derisory. Although the Norwegian LO recognised as early as 1975 that a new union for all offshore workers was necessary, the TUC has never shown the same realism. OILC seeks to cater for all UK offshore workers, but survives only as a small independent union outside the STUC. It arose spontaneously in 1989 as a crossunion group of workers who wanted a national offshore agreement but after initial support from the official trade unions was later abandoned by them. There have been some dramatic accidents offshore, none worse than Piper Alpha in 1988 with its 167 fatalities. This has concentrated attention on the maintenance of safe working environments and trade unions have sought, unsuccessfully, to win recognition from the employers by demanding representation on installation safety committees. As the oil industry now implements a programme of cost savings there have been accompanying assertions in some publications that the oil industry's commitment to accident prevention remains secondary to profitability, assertions this thesis finds groundless.

The objective of this study is to find out whether the leadership theories that are being widely practised by Western countries are being universally accepted in Asian countries, which have different local cultures and values. Both local and multinational companies, situated in Klang Valley, Malaysia, were approached and asked to participate in the quantitative and qualitative surveys. Employers and employees from numerous sectors ranging from banking, plantation, highway and manufacturing sectors participated in this research. Two well established researched sets of developed questionnaires established by renowned management practices, that are the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Bass and Avolio (1990)) and a slight modification of Leadership Behaviour Questionnaire Form XII (Stodgill, 1963) cited in Cook et. al. (1981) were used as a survey instrument. Descriptive and factor analysis, multiple regression and other statistical analysis were used to make the data more viable to the readers. The study will focus on Malaysia to determine what leadership styles are practised by managers and to determine whether there are any constraints that might hinder the Malaysians from accepting existing leadership theories. The survey will also seek to determine what factors or aspects will motivate both employees and employers to work together effectively to attain a company's vision. It is hoped that the answers derived from the analysis will be of importance to the multinational and local managers enabling them to determine appropriate leadership styles. This could help to boost employees productivity and thus contribute significantly to the overall country productivity, as the international and local companies venture into globalisation and into fragmented local markets.

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

This study focuses on Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and their importance in the economic development of Third World Countries. Recogni sing that. MNCs can contribute to economic growth and development, most Third World Countries are constantly working to attract them. hence their demand has become highly competiti ve. However, MNCs do not go without some negative effects. such as conflicts between host and investor countries. and the creation of damaging competition to local firms. These negative effects could be minimised if policies and strategies for the promotion and attraction of MNCs are part of. and integrated into. general economic development and economic reform policies and not seen in isolation. Although Third World Countries have implemented strategies to attract more MNCs. a refinement of some of these policies is needed if a country is to be successful in this regard. / Thesis (M.A (International Relations) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2014

À medida que o conhecimento e a inovação tornam-se mais importantes para o sucesso competitivo das organizações, surge a necessidade de avaliar as iniciativas que promovem a criação de novos conhecimentos e a geração de inovações tecnológicas, tais como as parcerias tecnológicas firmadas entre empresas e universidades. Visando ao aprofundamento deste tema, buscou-se identificar o estágio de desenvolvimento da cooperação empresauniversidade nas multinacionais brasileiras. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa descritiva e foram efetuados múltiplos estudos de caso. As multinacionais brasileiras estudadas em profundidade foram: Embraco, Alfa, Beta, Tigre e WEG. Dados primários foram coletados junto às empresas estudadas por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas e questionários. Foram também obtidos dados complementares sobre as empresas estudadas em fontes secundárias. O arcabouço teórico que suportou a pesquisa abordou sete temas centrais, sendo eles a inovação e a capacitação tecnológica, a gestão da P&D, a cooperação empresauniversidade, a cooperação tecnológica internacional, a internacionalização de empresas, a internacionalização de P&D e as multinacionais brasileiras. Os resultados da pesquisa indicaram que o estágio de desenvolvimento da cooperação empresa-universidade é predominantemente intermediário nas multinacionais brasileiras estudadas. Foi também possível verificar que não existe um consenso ou padrão rígido para a utilização de determinados arranjos e mecanismos para a cooperação tecnológica nas multinacionais brasileiras, a escolha dos mesmos dependerá da posição e dos objetivos de cada participante frente ao processo cooperativo e deverá contemplar a maleabilidade e adequações necessárias ao tipo de relação a ser desenvolvida. Por fim, o trabalho ressalta que a cooperação empresauniversidade é um grande propulsor da competitividade tecnológica e, cada vez mais, deverá ser foco de atenção das empresas, das universidades e do governo. / As knowledge and innovation become more important to the competitive success of the organizations, the need to evaluate the initiatives that promote the creation of new knowledge and the generation of technological innovations, such as technology partnerships signed between companies and universities arises. In order to deepen this issue, we have tried to identify the development stage of company-university cooperation in Brazilian multinationals. For this, a qualitative and descriptive research was conducted and several case studies were done. Brazilian multinationals studied in depth were: Embraco, Alfa, Beta, Tigre and WEG. Primary data were gathered from the companies using semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. Additional data about the studied companies were also obtained from secondary sources. The theoretical framework that supported the search addressed seven key issues: innovation and technological training, management of R&D, business-university cooperation, international technological cooperation, internationalization of enterprises, internationalization of R&D and Brazilian multinationals. The results indicate that the development stage of business-university cooperation is predominantly intermediary in the studied Brazilian multinational. It was also possible to see that there is a consensus or rigid standard for the use of certain arrangements and mechanisms for technology cooperation in Brazilian multinational, and their choices will depend on each participant\'s position and goals face the cooperative process and should consider flexibility and adjustments necessary and the kind of relationship to be developed. Finally, the work emphasizes that business-university cooperation is a major propellant for technological competitiveness and, increasingly, to be the companies of, universities and the government\'s attention focus.

Diante do processo recente da internacionalização das empresas brasileiras, que ainda suscita estudos para melhor compreender a dinâmica e o estabelecimento dos entrantes tardios verde-amarelos em todos os continentes e, visto que os estudos sobre subsidiárias de multinacionais brasileiras ainda são incipientes, o objetivo geral desta pesquisa foi analisar a influência da transferência de conhecimento e de fatores culturais na iniciativa das subsidiárias de multinacionais brasileiras. A partir das reflexões acerca dos estudos sobre matrizes e subsidiárias de multinacionais, sobretudo aqueles relacionados à cultura, transferência de conhecimento e iniciativa, as três hipóteses deste estudo emergiram e; baseado no modelo de iniciativa da subsidiária de Birkinshaw (1999), o modelo desta pesquisa foi explicitado considerando o contexto corporativo e o local da subsidiária, configurados por dimensões predominantemente comportamentais. Em termos metodológicos, empregou-se a estratégia sequencial explanatória, caracterizada pela coleta e análise de dados quantitativos seguido pela coleta e análise de dados qualitativos. Na primeira etapa, utilizou-se de técnicas estatísticas para analisar uma amostra de 66 subsidiárias de multinacionais brasileiras; enquanto na segunda etapa, explorou-se os resultados obtidos por meio de uma abordagem qualitativa aplicada na Weg, multinacional brasileira, envolvendo a matriz e as respectivas subsidiárias. Como principais resultados, constatou-se que a transferência de conhecimento nas multinacionais brasileiras parte na maioria dos casos, da matriz para subsidiária, principalmente com as unidades oriundas de processos de aquisição, evidenciando o compartilhamento do conhecimento tácito por meio do processo de socialização. Ambas as etapas da pesquisa permitiram identificar que algumas características culturais brasileiras estão presentes nas subsidiárias, principalmente as relacionadas à questão do poder, centralização e hierarquia, que podem dificultar o processo de transferência de conhecimento. Em relação ao modelo de pesquisa proposto, foi possível validá-lo na etapa quantitativa, visto que este explicou 28,9% da variabilidade da iniciativa da subsidiária de multinacional brasileira, considerado um resultado satisfatório nos estudos de ciências sociais. Duas, das três hipóteses verificadas, foram confirmadas: a iniciativa da subsidiária é diretamente influenciada pela transferência de conhecimento e esta, por sua vez, influenciado pela cultura. Entretanto, a influência da cultura na iniciativa da subsidiária não foi confirmada pela amostra do estudo, mas indícios da sua importância foram percebidos. O estudo sobre a Weg, na segunda fase da pesquisa, permitiu ilustrar o modelo proposto. Por fim, inspirado em uma proposta semelhante de Birkinshaw (1995), considerando-se a transferência de conhecimento, a cultura e a iniciativa das unidades, definiu-se três conglomerados de subsidiárias: Iniciativa de reconfiguração, Iniciativa no mercado local e Iniciativa incipiente. Como contribuições, destacam-se o enriquecimento da literatura acadêmica em construção sobre as multinacionais brasileiras, principalmente o olhar da iniciativa das subsidiárias; a definição de um modelo teórico com variáveis predominantemente comportamentais e que pode ser validado; e reflexões sobre a atuação das multinacionais brasileiras no contexto internacional. Para estudos futuros, acredita-se que outras variáveis sejam incorporadas ao modelo de pesquisa e que este seja aplicado novamente às subsidiárias de multinacionais brasileiras, permitindo uma análise longitudinal, bem como em realidades de outros países. Também, visando aprofundar a interpretação dos dados resultantes da etapa quantitativa, a realização de pesquisas em outras multinacionais brasileiras utilizando a abordagem qualitativa como na segunda fase deste estudo será relevante. / The internationalization of Brazilian companies is a recent process and raises the need for studies to better understand the dynamic and establishment of Brazilian late-movers in other continents. Moreover, the studies on Brazilian multinational subsidiaries are still scarce. As a result, the general goal of this research was to analyze the influence of knowledge transfer and cultural factors in initiatives of Brazilian multinational subsidiaries. The three hypothesis of this study emerged from the studies about headquarters and subsidiaries of multinationals, mainly those related to culture, knowledge transfer, and initiative. Based on Birkinshaws (1999) model of subsidiary initiative, this researchs model was depicted and it considered both the corporate context and the location of the subsidiary. These issues were especially set by behavioral dimensions. Regarding methodological issues, the explanatory sequential strategy was employed. This strategy includes collecting and analyzing quantitative data and, then, collecting and analyzing qualitative data. At the first phase of the research, statistical techniques were used to analyze a sample of 66 Brazilian multinational subsidiaries. At the second phase, results were obtained and analyzed through a more qualitative approach at Weg, a Brazilian multinational, including headquarters and subsidiaries. As main findings, it has been noticed that knowledge transfer in Brazilian multinationals, mostly, occurs from headquarter to the subsidiary and it is especially true when these subsidiaries are resulted from an acquisition. It was noticed that tacit knowledge sharing occurs through the socialization process. Results depicted from both phases of the research unveiled that some Brazilian cultural features are present in the subsidiaries, especially those related to power, centralization, and hierarchy. These issues can hamper the knowledge transfer process. It was possible to validate the proposed model since it explained 28.9% of the Brazilian multinational subsidiary initiative variability. This number is considered satisfactory for studies in Social Sciences. Two out of the three tested hypothesis were confirmed: the initiative of the subsidiary is directly influenced by knowledge transfer, which is, then, influenced by culture. However, although the influence of culture in the initiative of the subsidiary was not confirmed with this studys sample, there is evidence it is important. The study at Weg, at the second phase of this research, was useful to put the proposed model into practice. Inspired by a proposal similar to Birkinshaws (1995) model and considering knowledge transfer, culture, and initiatives of units, three subsidiary clusters were defined: (1) reconfiguration initiative, (2) local market initiative, and (3) incipient initiative. Contributions of this study include: (1) enriching the under-construction academic literature by studying Brazilian multinationals and focused on the initiative of subsidiaries, (2) defining a theoretical model with predominantly behavioral variables, (3) validating the model, and (4) discussing the operation of Brazilian multinationals within the international context. Future studies should include other variables into the research model, which may be reapplied at Brazilian multinational subsidiaries. It will enable researchers to both promote a longitudinal analysis and to understand the reality of other countries. Moreover, aiming at deepening the interpretation of data from the quantitative phase, it is relevant to conduct research at other Brazilian multinationals and the approach should be qualitative, likewise the second phase of this study.

This study aims to test the Uppsala Internationalisation model and one of its crucial elements, the concept of psychic distance. The evidence is drawn from a Chilean multinational Business to Business manufacturing company, AJ Ing which has gone international since 1997, 14 years after its inception. The Uppsala model and the concept of psychic distance are discussed and explored as well as other relevant literature. This is followed by a computation of psychic distance between Chile and some of the countries AJ Ing is established in, as well as Kenya where it seeks to establish itself soon. Interviews were then conducted with the Assistant Director of Operations at the company in order to give insight into the company's internationalisation process. The results show that the Uppsala model was followed to some extent. The internationalisation was done in incremental steps and after gaining knowledge and experience, but the notion of psychic distance played a minor direct role in the process.