What is the basis of enterprise internationalization strategy choice?

1. Analysis of the strategic process of internationalization of enterprises in China: from the perspective of two-way internationalization

Enterprise internationalization strategy refers to the strategic choice made by enterprises in the process of actively participating in the world division of labor system and developing from domestic operation to global operation under the background of economic globalization. From the development process of enterprises, the scale is basically from small to large, the business scope is from domestic market to international market, and the value chain network is from single to complex. The process of enterprise internationalization is actually a process of contact and integration with the world economy, including the contact of production factors such as capital, technology and human capital. Business activities, such as research and development, supply, production, marketing, etc. Therefore, we can understand the internationalization of enterprises as a two-way development process, including inward internationalization and outward internationalization.

The inward internationalization activities mainly include technology introduction, three supplements and domestic joint ventures. Outward internationalization activities mainly include export, technology transfer, Sino-foreign joint ventures, overseas subsidiaries and branches. At the same time, the inward internationalization and outward internationalization of enterprises are not separated, but have a whole process, multi-channel and multi-way connection. The internationalization of enterprises begins with the initial import of technology and equipment, which not only lays a material and technical foundation for the future development of enterprises, but also indirectly connects enterprises with the international market through inward international economic ties. In addition, this connection not only occurs in the initial stage, but also exports and transnational strategic alliances actually reflect the close connection between inward and outward internationalization (Welch and Luostatinen,1993; Liang neng, 1999).

China enterprises are in the period of deepening economic system reform and opening to the outside world. They not only have to go through the process of marketization and internationalization, but also face the local competition brought by more and more multinational companies entering the China market. In fact, Chinese enterprises have made international strategic choices under the premise of increasingly fierce local competition and continuous development and reform. Combined with the practice of China's enterprise internationalization strategy development for many years, from the perspective of two-way internationalization of enterprises, the course of China's enterprise internationalization strategy can be basically divided into four stages, namely, the stage of technology introduction, digestion and absorption, the stage of product export, the stage of establishing strategic alliance and the stage of "going out".

1. Technology introduction, digestion and absorption stage

Since the reform and opening up, China enterprises have expanded their foreign economic exchanges and introduced a lot of technology. From the object of technology import, from 198 1 to 1993, the total amount of technology import contracts in China is nearly $36.3 billion, of which the contract amount of complete sets of equipment and key equipment accounts for 78.2% on average, the technology licensing contract only accounts for 10.3%, and the proportion of other contracts is small. In addition, what needs to be pointed out in particular is that after entering the 1990s, the characteristics of this high proportion have a tendency to continue to expand. 199 1 ~ 1993, the average proportion of complete sets of equipment and key equipment contracts rose to about 55% of the total contract in the same period, and the proportion of contract amount rose to 80.4% (He Baoshan et al., 65438). From this point of view, it is very obvious that "hardware" is more than "software" in the process of enterprise technology introduction. The introduction of complete sets of equipment only formed a certain stage of production capacity, and did not form a sustainable competitive advantage for enterprises. Generally speaking, enterprises in China do not pay enough attention to the digestion, absorption and further innovation of technology, and the key parts and technologies are still heavily dependent on foreign manufacturers.

In addition, from the way of enterprise technology introduction, in the 1980s, Chinese enterprises mainly introduced advanced or mature technologies from developed countries and regions through technology trade. With the further deepening of reform and opening up, China's technology introduction mode has also entered a complicated stage, and foreign direct investment, special trade, BOT and other ways have also been applied to technology introduction, especially foreign direct investment.

From the above analysis, we can see that China enterprises are in the initial stage and preparation stage of internationalization. Some enterprises that attach importance to technology introduction, digestion and absorption not only have certain production capacity, but also have certain technological innovation ability and market competitiveness, and will participate in international competition more actively.

2. Product export stage

China enterprises introduce technology through technology trade and foreign direct investment. On this basis, some enterprises have greatly improved their technical level and production capacity through digestion, absorption and secondary innovation. For example, Chunlan Group and Haier have produced "good quality and low price" products, which have certain competitiveness in the international market and enter the international market through export.

As far as the export behavior of enterprises is concerned, it can be divided into pre-export stage (starting to be interested in the international market, consciously collecting information and investigating the international market, and at the same time appearing irregular export activities), experimental involvement stage (mainly engaging in indirect export and starting small-scale international marketing activities), active investment stage (exporting products to other countries by direct export) and international marketing strategy stage (making enterprise strategic planning with global market as coordinates). From this division, we can see that the export activities of enterprises are a process from indirect to direct, and the understanding of the market is gradually deepened, and the experience of transnational operation is gradually enriched, thus expanding the export business of enterprises (Paliwoda, 1995).

For the export of China enterprises, it is also a step-by-step and continuous development process. From indirect export through overseas agents to direct export through the establishment of overseas sales companies, and then to the height of international marketing strategy, we can truly grasp the development of the global market. When different enterprises enter the international market, they often adopt different strategies, which are reflected in the choice of export methods and the importance attached to brands. For example, Haier and Galanz took two different paths. Haier enters overseas markets through direct export, brand creation and marketing localization, while Galanz adopts indirect export and OEM. Instead of establishing its own sales network, it chose to enter the international market for other well-known manufacturers.

From the above analysis, it can be seen that the entry of China enterprises into the product export stage is not only the embodiment of the advantages of production and processing, but also the development process of overseas marketing network. At the same time, it can stimulate product research and development and technological upgrading by quickly reflecting the international market demand. Therefore, although we classify export activities as outward internationalization and emphasize the characteristics of the internationalization stage of enterprises, in fact, it has an important impact on the inward internationalization of enterprises, which fully reflects the interactive relationship between inward internationalization and outward internationalization.

3. The stage of establishing strategic alliance

Enterprises in China are in the world division of labor system. Facing the international competitive environment, the competitive advantage of enterprises is more manifested in the ability to organize, manage and control the value chain network, rather than just the competition among enterprises. In other words, enterprises are in the competitive environment of value chain network, and the relationship between enterprises is characterized by competition and cooperation. Product export means that enterprises initially participate in international competition, but the next question is how to maintain competitive advantage in fierce competition, especially for enterprises in developing countries. Therefore, developing cooperative relations among enterprises and establishing transnational strategic alliances have become an important choice for enterprises to further participate in international competition.

There are many definitions of enterprise strategic alliance, and the cooperative relationship between enterprises is mainly emphasized here, that is, the competitive advantage of value chain integration is obtained through strategic alliance. Tis describes it as a cooperative activity characterized by commitment and trust between two or more partner enterprises in order to achieve strategic goals such as resource sharing and complementary advantages (Stone Of Loyalty, 200 1). Strategic alliance itself is a kind of network organization, which has the characteristics of fuzzy boundary, loose relationship, flexible and efficient operation, including R&D, supply, production and sales alliance.

At present, some enterprises in China have also established extensive strategic alliances with multinational companies, including cooperation in technology, supply, production and marketing. By the end of 2002, Haier had established technical alliances with 12 foreign home appliance manufacturers, including Ericsson, Toshiba, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Philips, Mace and Motorola. Little Swan has established technical cooperation with Toshiba, Panasonic, NEC, Procter & Gamble and Motorola. Xinfei refrigerator establishes technical alliance with General Electric. Some home appliance enterprises have also established marketing alliances with foreign manufacturers. For example, Haier Group signed an agreement with Sanyo of Japan, TCL signed a sales cooperation agreement with Panasonic and Philips of Japan, and Hisense established market cooperation with Sumitomo of Japan. Companies that have established parts supply alliances include TCL, Panasonic, Chunlan Group and Emerson.

4. "going out" stage

With the continuous improvement of China enterprises' own operation and technological advantages, some enterprises have gone abroad, set up production bases abroad, or set up R&D centers overseas to acquire advanced technology. These enterprises include Shougang Group, Haier Group, Gree Electric, Chunlan Group, Konka Group, Galanz Group and other famous large companies, and some small and medium-sized enterprises have also entered the ranks of transnational operations.

Based on their own strength, many enterprises have chosen the way of overseas processing trade, that is, processing and assembling in foreign countries by using existing equipment and mature technology, in order to promote and expand the export of domestic equipment, technology and parts. This is a way to promote trade through investment, which is more suitable for investment in developing countries, and enables China enterprises to achieve a better combination of ownership advantages, location advantages and internalization advantages (OLI). At the same time, it should be emphasized that at present, China enterprises mainly invest in new construction, and a small amount of M&A investment occurs; At the same time, these enterprises generally have certain ownership advantages (such as the technological advantages of enterprises in household appliances industry, textile industry and light industry); Most of the investment fields are concentrated in developing countries, and a few are in developed countries; As far as investment motives are concerned, they are mainly market seeking and strategic asset seeking (including technology, production capacity and network resources, etc.). ), and there are not a few resource-seeking types.

Generally speaking, from the dimensions of scale, investment mode, investment area and ownership advantage level, China enterprises have only taken a tentative step in the "going out" stage, which is far from the overall coordination of multinational companies in global integration, localization and "worldwide learning" (Bartllett and Ghosha, 1998), which is completely meaningful.

Second, the evaluation of the internationalization strategy of China enterprises

Looking at the internationalization process of China enterprises, from introducing foreign technology to improving production capacity and technical ability to contacting foreign markets for occasional and sporadic export activities; With the increase of export, enterprises have acquired and mastered more overseas market knowledge, and export activities have gradually stabilized through overseas agents; With the further expansion of overseas business, it is necessary to establish its own sales subsidiary; With the further development, considering its own ownership advantage, location advantage and global division of labor, enterprises continue to extend the existing value chain and begin to form strategic alliances or make direct investments with overseas companies; The ultimate goal is to become a real multinational company and integrate into the world division of labor system.

Gradual development is a remarkable feature of China enterprises' internationalization strategy choice. Specifically, it can be further summarized as the following two evolution routes: first, the evolution of market location, domestic market-peripheral and developing country markets-developed country markets; The second is the evolution of management mode, technology import-export-strategic alliance-going out. In reality, many successful domestic enterprises follow this process invisibly in the process of internationalization, such as Haier's internationalization strategy.

In addition, through the mistakes made by some enterprises in the choice of internationalization strategy, the reality of gradual internationalization strategy can also be reflected from the opposite side. Some enterprises have chosen the cross-stage development strategy in the process of internationalization, but the effect is not ideal and they have to make some adjustments. For example,/kloc-0 entered the American market in April, 1993, and established Jialing Motorcycle (USA) Co., Ltd. with TNC International Company, but it suffered losses in the American market for years and was on the verge of bankruptcy. Starting from 1998, Jialing Motorcycle America Company set its sights on the Latin American market, and successively invested US$ 2 million to set up processing and assembly plants in Dominica, Colombia and Argentina. Because of the good quality and relatively cheap price, it quickly broke the monopoly pattern of Japanese manufacturers, opened the Latin American market, and reversed the loss situation of Jialing Motorcycle (USA) Co., Ltd., while assembly plants in Mexico and Brazil were also under construction. There are also some enterprises that go beyond their own strength at this stage, blindly make diversified investments overseas, attack in an all-round way, and enter unfamiliar areas. Not only have overseas investments failed, but domestic business has also been affected.

Generally speaking, the gradual characteristics of China enterprises' internationalization strategy are in line with the localization of current international competition and their own strength.

Three. Countermeasures for the Internationalization Development of China Enterprises

Through the evaluation of the internationalization strategy of China enterprises, this paper finds out the main problems that exist and will be faced, and puts forward corresponding countermeasures from three aspects: target market, entry mode and competitive strategy selection.

1. From the edge to the center: the choice of overseas target markets

The overseas target market has two meanings: one is to choose one or some countries as the target market among many countries; The second is to choose one or several sub-markets in a country as the target market. "Demand" is the constant theme of overseas target market selection. An optional overseas target market should basically meet the following conditions: first, there are unmet needs; Second, enterprises have the ability to meet this demand; Third, you can get certain economic benefits while meeting the demand, and you can't make unprofitable decisions because of "false reputation" and "impulse".

Through the above process of Jialing motorcycle overseas target market selection, we can deepen our understanding of the above theory. Between this failure and success, the key is to judge the overseas market demand of enterprises.

Combined with the actual situation of domestic enterprises, the products of enterprises can better meet the needs of developing countries' markets and have stronger technical applicability. At the same time, from a dynamic point of view, domestic enterprises can also turn their attention to developed countries to meet higher-level needs on the premise that their strength has accumulated. Therefore, "from the edge to the center" and "rural surrounding cities" can be said to be the first choice in the screening process of overseas target markets.

Haier Group is a practitioner of this strategy. Since the mid-1990s, Indonesia Haier Paul Industrial Zone has been established in Jakarta, Indonesia, Philippine Haier LKJ Regional Co., Ltd. has been established in the Philippines, Malaysia Haier Co., Ltd. has been established in Malaysia, and investments have been made in India, Pakistan and Yugoslavia. With the enhancement of strength in all aspects, Haier turned its attention to developed countries. In March 2000, Haier Industrial Park in South Carolina, USA was completed and put into operation. In June of 20001year, another Italian refrigerator factory was acquired, which was the first time to realize the transnational merger and acquisition of white goods.

At present, Southeast Asia, South America, Africa and other developing regions have become the focus of many enterprises' investment. Lifan motorcycle entered the Vietnamese market, accounting for 60% of the market; Konka Group established a color TV assembly plant in India; Gree Electric set up an air conditioning factory in Brazil. In addition, some small and medium-sized enterprises have joined the ranks. For example, Hero Golden Pen Factory produces and sells locally in South Africa, with annual sales of 600,000 US dollars; Wuxi Baonan Machine Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a private enterprise, established Mante Co., Ltd. in Thailand. Its main products, ticket printing machine and form printing machine, have a market share of nearly 40% in the local market. In addition, it is worth emphasizing that there are huge business opportunities in the communication, auto parts and digital products markets in Brazil, Egypt and South Africa, which have become new overseas target markets for domestic enterprises.

2. Choice of overseas market entry methods.

As far as domestic enterprises are concerned, their lack of understanding of overseas market competition and lack of capital and human resources are the main bottlenecks that plague their overseas expansion. Therefore, domestic enterprises have adopted a gradual strategy in the choice of overseas market entry methods, from low-risk and low-control entry methods to high-risk and high-control entry methods.

At present, domestic enterprises basically follow the above trajectory, take international trade as the guide, and expand production, sales and R&D links step by step. Among them, for establishing subsidiaries overseas, some enterprises adopt the way of new construction (green land investment), and some enterprises adopt the way of cross-border mergers and acquisitions. For example, before 1995, almost all Konka's products were exported by foreign agents. Since 1996, Konka has set up its own sales organizations in Australia, Russia, India, South Africa and the Middle East. Since 1998, Konka has made overseas direct investment in production and set up color TV assembly plants in Indonesia, India and other places.

For many small and medium-sized enterprises, trade methods (indirect export and direct export) are still the first choice to enter overseas markets. This method has the characteristics of low risk, low cost and quick effect. In the process of using trade to enter overseas markets, we should gradually transition to direct export, which is not only conducive to controlling export channels and the prices of export products, but also conducive to grasping overseas market information in time, accumulating international marketing experience and cultivating international management talents.

Zhejiang private enterprises have made creative development in the process of using trade to enter overseas markets. That is, to establish a "professional" market overseas and form a "cluster" of China enterprises. 1In July, 1998, private enterprises in Zhejiang established a 4,000-square-meter "China Mall" in the bustling Sao Paulo business district of Rio, Brazil. From 65438 to 0999, Haining City in Russia, Zhonghua Gate in South Africa, China Commercial Center in Nigeria and China Mall in Hungary were successively built. In addition, it has also built professional markets in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine and other places. In fact, the way of "specialized market" has become a unique landscape for American enterprises to seize overseas markets, and gradually replaced the monopoly position of Jews in the South American market.

3. Niche strategy: the choice of competitive strategy in overseas markets

Enterprises' own strength is the basis of participating in the competition and cooperation of foreign enterprises, and domestic enterprises themselves are also a process of changing from comparative advantage to competitive advantage. The process of this change is often manifested as a breakthrough in the product market. In other words, products go abroad, enter foreign markets, occupy local markets, and then optimize the combination of global resources and the development of related industries. Behind this process is the change of grafting, extension and expansion of domestic enterprise value chain, and the key lies in choosing a good breakthrough. As enterprises in developing countries, niche strategy is often an effective competitive strategy to break through foreign markets.

Niche strategy is a compound strategy based on specialization strategy, which can be regarded as the international operation of enterprises and the growing competitive strategic choice. The English word for "niche" is "niche", which means niche. American scholars compare it to a kind of market gap strategy of Japanese enterprises, and scholars in Taiwan Province Province of China translate it as a "niche". The essence of this strategy is to combine its own advantages, find the market gap, concentrate on entering, develop professionally, become a leader, realize market penetration, and at the same time establish various barriers to continuously improve the international competitiveness of enterprises.

For example, Haier Group used niche strategy appropriately in the American market. Instead of directly attacking large freezers of more than 200L, mainly from ge and Whirlpool, various types of small freezers and wine cabinets with novel designs ranging from 60L to 160L were developed in the American market, and then the market was fully penetrated. At present, Haier's products have occupied more than 50% of the American market, and accordingly entered the mainstream distribution channels. For another example, Galanz's microwave oven manufacturing and Wanxiang Group's Wanxiang joint production have successfully applied this strategy. Similarly, this strategic choice has more reference significance for the transnational operation of small and medium-sized enterprises.