Danish Multinational Corporations in China: An Evolutionary Approach to Internationalization

Multinational corporations (MNCs) strategise in a dynamic multi-polar world consisting of changing environments at home and abroad. They continuously face a new set of push- and pull-factors for internationalising activities. In recent decades, internationalisation has been reaching into emerging markets, which are significantly different from MNCs' traditional locations. As globalisation progresses, internationalisation increasingly involves exploitation strategies, i.e., offshoring of production; market access; and exploration strategies such as internationalisation of innovation. This article looks into how Danish MNCs have evolved into the Chinese economy, investigating the trajectories of how and when four Danish MNCs entered the Chinese economy and how the strategy patterns have emerged from cost reduction, to market access, and recently to innovation. Over 30 years, China has developed into an important hub for MNC offshoring of innovation. The four MNCs have changed the mandate of the Chinese innovation sites into global centres of excellence.