Internationalization Strategies of Emerging Markets Firms

Although firms from emerging markets are becoming significant global players, our knowledge about how these latecomers catch up with existing multinational firms remains limited. This article summarizes the patterns of internationalization strategies pursued by firms from these markets. These leading emerging markets firms can be best understood in terms of their levels of R&D intensity and marketing intensity and represent four types of firms: multinational challengers; global exporters and importers; OEM/ODM technology leaders and followers; and regional exporters and importers. Based on these analyses, this article develops a set of propositions that summarize the internationalization strategies of these firms.