Brazilian Multinationals: Competences for Internationalization

What contribution can studies of multinationals from emerging countries make to the development of theories in international business? Do they influence the practice of international management? The story of Brazilian multinationals is closely related to the country's industrialization choices. Since the 1950s, subsidiaries of the most prestigious foreign multinationals have played a key role in Brazilian economic development, creating, in the process, a very competitive domestic market. On top of that, government interventions in the last few decades were inconsistent and contradictory, resulting in a series of economic crises. Only the most resilient Brazilian firms were able to survive and prosper in that challenging environment. This book analyzes a variety of leading Brazilian multinationals, looking at both their competences and their competitive strategies in different settings. To do so, an innovative analytical framework based on international business, international operations management and international human resources management is developed and applied both to Brazilian multinationals and to firms from Latin America, India and China. This provides a novel insight into the dynamic movements of firms that engage in international operations and trade, as well as an understanding of the rationales and strategies that lead firms to outperform in the global economy.