The Operational Challenges Stemming from Chinese Acquisitions in Developed Countries

The Springer series addressing Operations Management, MEOP - Measuring Operations Performance is devoting its next peer-reviewed volume to the topic of The Operational Challenges Stemming from Chinese Acquisitions in Developed Countries. While traditionally Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has flowed from the advanced developed economies into developed and developing countries, more recently, a new trend has emerged in the pattern of FDI. Outward bound FDI from emerging economies has begun to increase significantly and has been growing at a faster pace than FDI from the advanced developed world. Increasingly nowadays Multinational Corporations (MNCs) from Newly Industrialised Countries (NICs) are buying business assets and capabilities all over Europe and the US. The Chinese acquisitions affecting the European and the US manufacturing sector are emblematic of a wider trend. Many emerging economies have benefited from a massive infusion of capital, technology and managerial expertise from the traditional industrialized countries. Because of this and other factors, firms in some of these countries have amassed sufficient capital, knowledge and know-how to invest abroad on their own. The proportion of FDI accounted for by NICs is increasing. A variety of reasons has been offered for the emergence of FDI from NICs. These include the support of exports, the expansion of market presence, the acquisition of established brands and foreign skills and the establishment and strengthening of local distribution networks. The increasing financial strength and the growing international exposure of companies from NICs together with greater domestic competition have also been suggested as explanations. Finally, the goals of building international brands, accessing advanced technologies and establishing R&D centres in developed countries help to explain this growing trend. There is a stream of work that deals with the internationalization of Emerging Market Multinational Corporations (EMNCs). These EMNCs (or EMNEs) have been the subject of recent interest, seen in a growing number of studies.

According to the literature, two elements can explain this interest. First, the scope and pace of the international expansion by emerging economy firms has been exceptional. Second, the patterns of international expansion by emerging economy firms have raised questions about their originality and whether existing theories of international expansion strategies are adequate or need to be modified. Despite being both embedded and exposed to a wide variety of national settings, the literature identifies some common features in their recent internationalization patterns. In relation to EMNCs being embedded in their home market some authors argue that some “push” factors that may have also driven them to invest in advanced countries. They label the resulting OFDI as ‘escape investments’, which are motivated by the desire to escape the home country’s weak institutions and economic underdevelopment. Additionally, the “pull” factors, such as the large markets and wealthier consumers of advanced countries, play an important role. In particular, some common challenges faced by EMNCs include a liability of emergingness, existing knowledge, technological and commercial gaps between themselves and their developed countries counterparts (DMNCs), the poor image associated with their corporate social responsibility often coupled by controversial political relations in the host markets. Nonetheless, there are also significant benefits that they bring into the new global production system. These are namely the introduction of disruptive business models as well as a fresh perspective. Within this work, there is the acknowledgement that the challenges EMNCs face motivate them to undertake an accelerated internationalization strategy, especially by extensively relying on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As). M&As are often used as a strategic vehicle that enable EMNCs to acquire both tangible and intangible strategic assets to ultimately overcome their competitive disadvantages in being latecomers to the international business activity and lacking the resources and capabilities to be successful in the international arena. M&As are thus perceived as shortcuts to catch up with DMNCs, to also secure well-established Western brands, and to gain immediate access to advanced technology.

Differently from other modes of entry, M&As give EMNCs more direct control over the operation of, and its associated returns, by therefore offering significant value-creation opportunities that may not otherwise be available to them. However, while EMNCs are gaining considerable attention, we still know very little about their post-entry activities such as their implementation of post-acquisition and integration strategies. In particular, with relatively less international experience, we might expect that EMNCs will face radically different challenges when compared to their Western counterparts. These include negative country of origin perceptions, consumer bias and heightened levels of consumer ethnocentrism which may undermine the success on their products, brands, and marketing strategies. By seizing this gap in the literature, the main aim of this volume is to further investigate the phenomenon of Chinese Acquisitions in Developed Countries. As the result of China’s industrial policy, Chinese investors have been particularly active in recent times.

This volume will therefore focus on the Operational Challenges Stemming from Chinese Acquisitions in Developed Countries. It will seek to assess the state of Chinese Acquisitions in Developed Countries, their recent developments, their drivers, their opportunities as well as their operational challenges. To this purpose, contributions are invited that address the above theme focusing on the following topics. However, this is not an exclusive list and all contributions that relate to the theme will be considered.

In particular, contributions are encouraged to take a case-study approach.

• The state of Chinese Acquisitions in Developed Countries
• Forces and drivers influencing Chinese Acquisitions in Developed Countries
• International Supply Chain Transformations as a result of Chinese Acquisitions in Developed Countries
• Changing configuration conditions and International Manufacturing Strategy as a result of Chinese Acquisitions in Developed Countries
• Opportunities associated with Chinese Acquisitions in Developed Countries
• Challenges associated with Chinese Acquisitions in Developed Countries
• Chinese Acquisitions in Europe in the Luxury Sector
• Integration Strategies implanted by the Chinese Acquirers
• Cross-cultural issues stemming from the Chinese Acquisitions
• Risk and resilience of Chinese Acquisitions in Developed Countries
• The influence of emerging technologies on Chinese Acquisitions in Developed Countries
• The interplay of Chinese Acquisitions in Europe and servitisation
• Chinese Acquisitions in Europe and their impact on Reshoring
• Chinese Acquisitions and CSR
• Chinese Acquisitions and Branding Strategies
• Chinese Acquisitions and Knowledge Management
• Chinese Acquisitions and Transfer of Best Practices

The editor will select submissions for peer review. In particular papers adopting a case-study approach are particularly welcome.

The following are the key dates:

Proposals Submission: 30/04/2018

Proposals Acceptance: 15/05/2018

Full Paper Submission due: 15/07/2018

Editors select submissions for peer review: 31/07/2018

Reviews returned to contributors with directions from editors: 15/09/2018

Resubmissions of the final manuscript due: 15/10/2018

Proposal submissions should be sent to the volume editor Professor Alessandra Vecchi (email alessandra.vecchi@unibo.it) no later than 30/04/18.

The book will be suitable to be used as a teaching aid in a variety of courses in different disciplines (ranging from International Business, Operations Management to Production Management) both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Additionally the book will be relevant to academic, researchers and practitioners who have a keen interest in the manufacturing industry.