Research On Cooperational Strategy Between MNCs And Manufacturing Firms In China

At present, fundamental changes have taken place in the mode of competition. Developing vertical own core competitiveness and making horizontal strategic cooperation are becoming a trend of international firms to establish their competitive advantages. In the international market, cooperation, to some extent, has been integrated into the development strategy of firms. The philosophy of cooperating during competition and improving the core competitiveness of the firm has been generally accepted and is playing an important role. Based on the basic viewpoints of the cooperation-competition theory, a firm must learn to make necessary compromise and cooperation, and develop a cooperative and competitive relationship which is mutually beneficial, seek chances of cooperation during competition, and infuse greater competitive ability into its affiliates through united efforts, so as to enhance competition during the course of cooperation.The cooperation between Chinese manufacturing firms and multinational companies is an important channel for new industrial development of China. How to cooperate with multinational companies is crucial not only to the improvement of the competitive ability of Chinese firms but also to the sustainable growth of the Chinese economy. With the development of global economic integration, the advance of science and technology, the increasing mobility of production factors and speeded industrial transfer, the interrelation between Chinese manufacturing firms and multinational companies is getting closer and closer. How can Chinese manufacturing firms make full use of the two markets, domestic and foreign markets, and the two kinds of resources? How can they cooperate with multinational companies to attain the corporate goals? There is a need to seek new opportunities for the significant development of Chinese manufacturing firms in theory and practice. The research on the Chinese manufacturing firms' strategy of cooperation with multinational companies will offer a basis and reference for the positive development of Chinese manufacturing firms in the new economic context.This article makes an in-depth study of the Chinese manufacturing firms' strategy of cooperation with multinational companies, builds a theoretical framework to analyze the cooperation strategy in view of the actual conditions of the Chinese manufacturing firms, and discusses the positioning, selection and implementation of the cooperation strategy of the Chinese manufacturing firms with multinational companies. Furthermore, on the basis of a general review of the literature, this article constructs the influence mechanism model of cooperative strategy performance on three levels, namely, resources and abilities of Chinese manufacturing firms, relationship between Chinese manufacturing firms and their multinational partners, and the structural features of cooperative governance. The article makes an empirical test of the model through a survey with a scientific and rigorous questionnaire and statistical analysis. In the end, constructive countermeasures are proposed.The article is divided into the following seven chapters.Chapterâ… Introduction. First, the author put forward the ground of the thesis as well as the realistic and theoretical meaning of the research. Then, the author provides preliminary definitions of the major concepts involved in the research, and brings about the research methods adopted and the arrangement of chapters. Finally, the author lists the main original points of the research.Chapterâ…¡Literature Review. First, the author discusses the related theories of cooperation, and categorizes cooperation into several classes. Then, the author discusses the related theories of cooperation governance. Finally, the author makes comments on previous studies on cooperation between Chinese firms and multinational companies.Chapterâ…¢Positioning Analysis of Chinese Manufacturing Firms' Strategy of Cooperation with Multinational Companies. First, this chapter puts forward a theoretical framework for the positioning of Chinese manufacturing firms' strategy of cooperation with multinational companies. Then, it deals with motivation of cooperation, selection of partners, and arrangement of cooperation forms.Chapterâ…£Analysis on Section of Chinese Manufacturing Firms' Strategy of Cooperation with Multinational Companies. First, from the perspective of value chain, the chapter analyzes the selection of strategy of cooperation with multinational companies from the vertical-horizontal dimension. Then, from the perspective of inter-organization, it analyzes the selection of strategy of cooperation with multinational companies from the structured-unstructured dimension. Finally, the chapter categorizes the selection of strategy of cooperation from the perspective of integration between the value chain and the inter-organization.Chapterâ…¤Analysis of the Implementation of Chinese Manufacturing Firms' Strategy of Cooperation with Multinational Companies. This chapter divides the life cycle of the cooperation strategy of Chinese manufacturing firms with multinational companies into several stages, analyzes the risks and risk avoidance during the implementation of the cooperation strategy of each stage, and analyzes the effective capital governance and operation during the implementation of the cooperation strategy.Chapterâ…¥Empirical Analysis of the Performance Influence Mechanism of Cooperative Strategy. First, the entire model of performance influence mechanism of cooperative strategy between Chinese manufacturing firms and multinational companies is presented. Then, a related theoretical hypothesis is put forward. Finally, a questionnaire survey and empirical study is made for Chinese manufacturing firms as the sample.Chapterâ…¦Conclusion and Policy Suggestion. This chapter summarizes the main findings of this research, and proposes the policy suggestions on the cooperation strategy of Chinese manufacturing firms with multinational companies on macroeconomic, meso-economic and microeconomic levels, and brings about the plan about future research.The innovative points of this article are as follows:(1) Previous studies on the cooperation strategy of Chinese manufacturing firms with multinational companies are limited to description of certain stages and parts, and fail to probe into the nature and inherent mechanism of cooperation strategy, and fails to form a universal and systematic theoretical framework combining all the aspects of cooperation strategy. To make an in-depth study of the nature and mechanism of cooperation strategy, this article divides the cooperation strategy of Chinese manufacturing firms with multinational companies into three basic processes, namely, positioning of cooperation strategy, selection of cooperation strategy, and implementation of cooperation strategy. On this basis, the research framework for the cooperation strategy of Chinese manufacturing firms with multinational companies is established. In positioning of cooperation strategy, a three-dimensional framework for the positioning of the cooperation strategy of Chinese manufacturing firms with multinational companies is set up to expound three dimensions of cooperation strategy, i.e. cooperation motivation, partner selection and form of cooperation. In selection of cooperation strategy, firstly, from the perspective of value chain, the selection of strategy of cooperation with multinational companies is examined from the vertical-horizontal dimension. Then, from the perspective of inter-organization, the selection of strategy of cooperation with multinational companies is studied from the structured-unstructured dimension. Finally, the selection of strategy of cooperation is categorized from the perspective of integration between the value chain and the inter-organization. In implementation of cooperation strategy, the article divides the life cycle of the cooperation strategy of Chinese manufacturing firms with multinational companies into several stages, and analyzes the risks and risk avoidance during the implementation of the cooperation strategy of each stage. Finally, the capital governance model is set up for the implementation of operation strategy between Chinese manufacturing firms and multinational companies. Physical capital, human capital, intellectual capital, and other tangible capital are the foundation and assurance of capital governance. If the partners fail to share and integrate their infrastructures, information systems, human resources, knowledge and technologies, further cooperation will be impossible. At a higher level, the governance of intangible capital such as relationship capital and cognitive capital is the "agent" and "stabilizer" of the long-term maintenance and satisfactory operation of the cooperation.(2) Previous empirical studies on the performance of cooperation strategy between Chinese firms and multinational companies fail to form a comprehensive model incorporating most of the influential factors, and few studies are concerned with the performance of cooperation strategy between Chinese manufacturing firms and multinational companies. Therefore, this study focuses on Chinese manufacturing firms, constructs an integrated influence mechanism model for the performance of cooperation strategy of Chinese manufacturing firms with multinational companies at three levels, resources and abilities of Chinese manufacturing firms (organizational absorptive ability and communicative ability, and resource complementarity with multinational companies in resources), relationship between Chinese manufacturing firms and their multinational partners (shared goal, cultural compatibility, trust and commitment), and the structural features of cooperative governance (formalness, centralization and complexity), puts forward the theoretical hypothesis, and makes empirical a test. The empirical study show that Chinese manufacturing firms' organizational absorptive ability and communicative ability, and resource complementarity with multinational companies as well as the shared goal, cultural compatibility, level or trust and level of commitment between Chinese manufacturing firms and their multinational partners have significant positive influence on performance of the cooperation strategy. In Contrast, the formalness, centralization and complexity of the structural features of cooperative governance between Chinese manufacturing firms and their multinational companies have significant negative influence on the performance of the cooperation strategy.(3) The theoretical study of the positioning, selection and implementation of cooperation strategy between Chinese manufacturing firms and multinational companies, and the empirical study on the performance of cooperation strategy, the cooperation strategy of Chinese manufacturing firms with multinational companies is being expanded from vertical cooperation in the form of supply of parts and raw materials to multinational companies, or such low added value stages of the value chain as processing and assembling, to horizontal cooperation in the form of R&D, marketing, branding, service, and other high added-value stages of the value chain. Therefore, in view of the trend in the cooperation strategy between Chinese manufacturing firms and multinational companies, this study offers the suggestions to policymakers on how to promote the successful implementation of the cooperation policy between Chinese manufacturing firms and multinational companies at macroeconomic, meso-economic and microeconomic levels, with an view to offering guidance and reference for upgrading the cooperation strategy of Chinese manufacturing firms with multinational companies.