Do All Emerging-Market Firms Partner with Their Acquisitions in Advanced Economies? A Comparative Study of 25 Emerging Multinationals’ Acquisitions in France

Abstract

Emerging multinationals' acquisitions in advanced economies are a growing phenomenon that remains relatively unexplored. Although there is now a consistent body of knowledge concerning multinationals from major emerging countries such as China, empirical data encompassing a larger array of countries of origin are still lacking. This article contributes to a better, contextualized understanding of commonalities and differences among emerging multinationals in terms of how they manage their developed-region-based acquisitions. Adopting a comparative international management perspective, we discuss recurrent hypotheses about such multinationals' management styles (e.g., their partnering or light-touch integration approach following upmarket acquisitions) with empirical data on acquisitions in France by multinationals from 13 countries. While confi rming some hypotheses, we refi ne the defi nition of the partnering approach and identify a new, previously overlooked integration mode. We also discuss the antecedents of integration approaches, highlighting the infl uence of administrative heritage and contextual factors on emerging multinationals' international management practices.

The challenge of Chinese state‐affiliated multinationals in benefiting from foreign subsidiary knowledge transfer: A criticism of light‐touch integration

“…The limited number of studies touching upon integration issues in EMNEs has acknowledged that EMNE HQs have a low level of integration with their subsidiaries (e.g., Kale, Singh, & Raman, ;Liu & Woywode, ; Marchand, ). To go into more detail, in analyzing 120 deals for controlling stakes in Asian cross‐border M&As, Cogman and Tan () indicate that more than 43% of Asian deals involve either limited functional integration or no integration efforts whatsoever.…”

“…In addition, Liu and Woywode () identify that Chinese HQs employ a “light‐touch” approach which essentially synthesizes the preservation and symbiosis integration when managing acquired subsidiaries in Germany. From these limited studies, the antecedents of EMNEs' low level of integration are mainly summarized as: complicated institutional systems (Muralidharan, Wei, & Liu, ); administrative heritage (Marchand, ); cultural influences (Liu & Woywode, ; Weber, Tarba, & Reichel, ); insufficient M&A experience and lower absorptive capabilities (Liu & Woywode, ; Marchand, ); or organizational identity divergence (Wei & Clegg, ). However, the fragmented research fails to identify the fundamental reasons that explain this phenomenon.…”

EMNEs venturing into advanced economies: Findings from comparative cases of two Indian MNEs

“…The fact that Motherson opened its first overseas office in Austria is an indication of its international orientation. Both firms seem to have adopted the “light touch” integration approach (Kale & Singh, ; Kale, Singh, & Raman, ; Kumar, ; Liu & Woywode, ; Marchand, ) toward their developed‐region acquisitions. This is evident from our analysis that shows the two firms have retained the TMT at acquired entities.…”

Acquisition Behavior of Emerging Versus Developed Market Multinationals

“…Emerging market multinationals (EMMs) have received increasing attention in international business literature in the last two decades (Agnihotri & Bhattacharya, 2018;Buckley et al, 2014;Demirbag et al, 2009;Marchand, 2017;Luo, 1998;Panibratov et al, 2018;Sarapovas et al, 2016). Studies have shown that EMMs differ from developed market multinationals (DMMs) in a number of areas such as strategic flexibility (Luo & Rui, 2009), motivation for expansion (Luo & Tung, 2007), pace of internationalization (Dunning, 2006;Mathews, 2006), and firm specific advantages (Guillen & Garcia-Canal, 2009).…”