Emerging market MNEs as meta-integrators: The importance of internal networks

Abstract

The modern MNE has to be a 'meta-integrator', able to leverage knowledge within and between its different constituent affiliates, which requires efficient internal markets and well-structured cross-border hierarchies. The current generation of EMNEs need to strengthen their ownership advantages to achieve such internal embeddedness, which are hard to acquire, and must be learnt. I frame this discussion in the ongoing debate about the nature of ownership advantages. The ability to be competitive in an era of globalisation depends as much on the EMNE's technological assets as it does on its ability to achieve economies of common governance. The EMNE has to be able to promote internal knowledge flows, both to and from the parent, as well as between affiliates located in different countries. This is essential to achieve organisational, scale and scope economies.