Learning from the world: the globalization way of Chinese manufacturer Chery Automobile

In the knowledge economy, globalization does not just mean to penetrate markets around the world. Now the main driving force of globalization is to innovate by learning from the world. Especially for latecomers in developing countries, they should make much more efforts to proactively create value in the catching-up process by globally seeking, integrating and mobilizing technological and market intelligence. Many Chinese firms, especially manufacturing firms, have profoundly realized the significance of strategic transition from learning by "Bringing in" to learning by "Going abroad" and the importance of self-reliance innovation during the transition process. In fact, secondary innovation is not only a process of technological learning, but also a learning process of globalization. Chery Automobile, a fast growing automaker in China, is a good case to explain the dynamics of organizational learning. We examine Chery's learning process from technology acquisition to self-reliance R&D and from domestic marketing to international operation. From the experience of Chery, we find that it's possible to accelerate the catching-up process of latecomers in developing countries by the matching of five organizational learning modes with the conditions: Adaptive learning, Maintenance learning, Developmental learning, Transitional learning and Creative learning.