Today’s international division of labor between and within companies, transfer and creation of knowledge beyond “time & space” have much more possible than ever before, mainly because of the evolution of ICT based on digital and software technology. At the same time, this not only becomes a factor for geographically decentralizing research and development (R&D) capabilities, but also for concentrating R&D capabilities for companies and countries that can strategically utilize them. Correspondingly, IBM, for example, has augmented the number of nationalities of inventors in its US patents, including co-inventor ones, from 12 nationalities in 1990, 24 in 2000, 37 in 2010, and to 54 in 2015, apart from US nationality.

In other words, US IT multinationals have strategically responded to the international and geographical decentralization of capable R&D human resources. Such internationalization of R&D has promoted not only the utilization of overseas R&D bases, but also the international networking of R&D activities that create technical knowledge through international collaboration.

However, conventional researches on international networking of R&D activities have centered on qualitative empirical research based on individual case studies, which have not quantitatively clarified the networking of R&D activities.

Therefore, after overviewing the internationalization of R&D activities of seven US IT companies, which are positioned in top ten in the number of US patent ranking, including Facebook, which has a rapidly increasing number of patents, the paper specifically examines Google, IBM, and Japanese Canon in order to visualize and quantitatively clarify networking structures of international joint R&D. Through network analysis based on graph theory, the characteristics of the network structures of R&D activities by the above three companies are quantitatively grasped by indicators such as density, transitivity, eigenvector, etc.

Finally, this paper points out that the international networking of R&D activities in terms of the nationalities of inventors of the patented technologies of the two US companies, among others, are quantitatively reflected.

The business environment surrounding companies has been drastically changed due to the progress of globalization and information technology. The existence of Chinese companies called the World Factory is becoming more and more important. To summarize the previous studies on quality management, normative quality management methods such as SQC, TQC, TQM and ISO 9000 certification have attracted attention. Although there are not a few studies on quality management of Chinese companies from various perspectives, to the best of the author’s knowledge, no systematic analysis of the stylistic characteristics of the timing and implementation methods of quality management has been found in previous studies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical clarification of the characteristics of quality management in Chinese companies, by focusing on the timing and implementation methods of quality management, through case studies of several Chinese companies.

As a result, it became clear that quality management in Chinese companies diverse in timing and implementation method. There are four types of timing of quality management in Chinese companies: Pre・Post-focused quality management, Random quality management, Pre-focused quality management and Post-focused quality management. There are four types of implementation method of quality management in Chinese companies: Equipment・person-centered quality management, Equipment-centered quality management, Person-centered quality management, and Consequential quality management. Thus, diversity was found in quality management of Chinese companies. In other words, quality management of Chinese companies is more flexible than introducing normative quality management methods such as SQC, TQC, TQM, and ISO 9000 certification

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the reason for the overseas 2nd tier subsidiary is chosen as a means of expanding the business of MNCs. We analyzed the cases of DENSO’s Korean subsidiary and Chinese 2nd tier subsidiary. For the business with a Korean carmaker in its Chinese plant, DENSO utilized the form of the subsidiary of DENSO Korea, an overseas 2nd tier subsidiary, instead of establishing an overseas subsidiary in China by itself. For decades, DENSO Korea has maintained business relationships with Hyundai Motors and has built up relevant capabilities to Hyundai Motors. When Hyundai Motors began the production in China, DENSO needed to build up their Chinese plant with those relational skills for Hyundai Motors’ Chinese plant. However, DENSO Japan did not have those skills, not DENSO Japan, but DENSO Korea established its plant in China. The overseas 2nd tier subsidiary form was chosen because the Japanese headquarters did not have the capabilities needed, that is, relational skills DENSO Korea had built with a Korean carmaker. In addition, we could clarify that the features of the unique capabilities that the overseas subsidiary had built up could determine whether the overseas 2nd tier subsidiary form would be chosen as a way of utilizing those capabilities.

Cross-border M&As by emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) in advanced countries, the purpose of which is to acquire strategic assets, are frequently witnessed in recent years. However, when EMNEs have grown more internationalized through various FDI activities prior to cross-border M&As, the aim of M&As and the way of utilizing acquired assets will change along with improvements in the competitiveness of EMNEs. By observing over time, this paper aims to analyze how the strategic positioning of cross-border M&As changes in the internationalization process of EMNEs.

A case study on the acquisition of Sanyo’s white goods units by Haier, the Chinese home appliance giant, was conducted. The results suggest that, despite the strategic intent of using cross-border M&As as springboard for gaining competitiveness, the way how acquired assets are utilized could be different from it was planned, which means the role of acquired companies might change. The main reason is that during the internationalization process, EMNEs have caught up with, or even have surpassed some AMNEs that were once considered as benchmarks. In other words, role reversal has occurred between EMNEs and AMNEs. In this instance, the technological resources of acquired firms are shared with other regional subsidiaries through the headquarter of EMNEs, and by doing so, EMNEs could leapfrog to transnational companies.