Interdependency of globalization and innovation as a source for MNEs to thrive

: OLI´s case study

Abstract

In the recent decades, it is often discussed how globalization and innovation have become paramount drivers of change in the societal and business context, allowing multinational enterprises to be globally competitive. They presume that technological advantages help MNEs replicate their local success on a global scale. Innovative MNEs are thought to be pursuing a “global strategy”. In a practical business situation, it is not necessarily observed the purported “higher” ability of those innovative MNEs, to emulate their domestic success outside of their home region and to be “global”. To investigate this relation, it was conducted a case study to OLI, a Portuguese multinational company that adopted the internationalization strategy proposed by the Uppsala model, to reduce the company´s operational risks. Also, the company applied the non-location bound asset strategy to overcome the liabilities of foreignness. In fact, OLI has understood the importance of innovation, alongside the importance of creating marketing and branding activities. This dissertation aims to explore the relationship between globalization and innovation and understand how it impacts MNEs´ performance. It was found that throughout international expansion, legal barriers are a major liability of foreignness. Therefore, they should not be neglected.

Date of Award	2 Jul 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Xuejing Yang (Supervisor)