Abstract

The preferred models of overseas outward investment in cooperative ventures were analyzed for 340 small and midsized manufacturing firms in a newly industrialized country (NIC), the Republic of Korea. Firms were examined as sources of investment capital, knowledge, or technology, and locational differences in the methods by which these firms exploit their competitive strengths were addressed. The analysis suggested that firms in the sample have strategic concerns that are different from those of the large multinational companies (MNC) usually studied in this type of research. Current models of the international firm and of cooperative ventures were shown to have a strong situational component and limited application to a sample of firms that are not large MNCs. The transaction cost perspective, as expressed in such concepts as the internationalization model, was least applicable in its standard form, and the organizational learning perspective fared better.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1990

Publisher Statement

Copyright Betriebswirtschaftlicher Verlag Fourth Quarter 1990

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