Workshop 24-25 September 2009
On 24 and 25 September 2009 the Melbourne International Business Research Unit hosted a two-day workshop on the topic of "Multinational companies from emerging economies".
Economically successful emerging markets are mainly thought of as destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI), chiefly from developed nations. While such inflows of investment (as well as corresponding inflows of technology and knowledge) played a major role in the economic development of many emerging nations, more recently these inflows have been complemented with FDI outflows. The last decade witnessed a rapid acceleration in outward flows of FDI from emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil. As a result, companies from these and other emerging economies have joined the ranks of the world’s largest multinational enterprises. The extent and pace of this phenomenon have fascinated and perplexed scholars in international business. The purpose of the workshop was to bring together a number of Australian (and overseas) academics to advance sholarship in this field and to map out a future research agenda. Some of the themes discussed include the interplay of firm strategy, government policy and the globalising world economy; as well as the role played by mergers and acquisitions in the rapid rise of emerging market multinationals. The workshop's keynote addresses were delivered by Prof. John Mathews and Prof. Anoop Madhok. The meeting was attended by participants from York University (Canada), University of Sydney, University of NSW, Macquarie University, University of SA, ANU, Monash University, RMIT, Melbourne Business School and University of Melbourne.