Issue 2, 2011

V. S. Katkalo, A. G. Medvedev. Internationalisation of Russian Firms and Configuration of Their Value Chain

The dynamic growth of multinational enterprises MNEs) from emerging economies is widely acknowledged as one of the key developments in the global economy in the last years. Most of the existing literature on MNEs from emerging economies shows that explanations based on studies on foreign direct investments and/or on country-specific advantages (CSA) are insufficient to understand development of MNEs from emerging economies, and in particular development of Russian MNEs (RMNEs). Foreign expansion of Russian firms cannot be explained by simplified models of successive internationalisation and foreign direct investment theories, the fact embarrassing investigating the RMNE phenomenon. This paper considers foreign activities of RMNEs from the viewpoint of formulation of firms’ strategy and intensification of their competitive advantages in particular by designing an effective global value chain. In the paper, institutional specifics of RNMEs are analysed including some historical retrospect, and theoretical explanations of MNEs activities configuration are developed. The paper investigates strategic motives for foreign expansion of RMNEs and their inclusions in global value chains strengthening their firm-specific advantages by maintaining an effective balance between activities within value chains. Keywords: Multinational Enterprises (MNEs), Theory of MNEs, Emerging Economies, Foreign Expansion Strategy, Global Value Chain.

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