Henrik Schaumburg-Müller

Towards a developing country firm perspective on outsourcing

Purpose – While the implications of outsourcing have been extensively studied from the point of view of the developed country multinational corporation (MNC) and its home economy, far less attention has been paid to the developing country firm (DCF) participating in the outsourcing collaboration. This article aims at presenting, evaluating, and synthesizing a number of theoretical contributions that may help build an agenda for future research on outsourcing from a DCF perspective.Design/methodology/approach – Through a review of the extant theoretical literature on outsourcing, the article seeks to explicate a DCF perspective on outsourcing.Findings – The article argues that although several theoretical domains indirectly shed light on outsourcing from a DCF perspective, they are typically approaching the issue from a macro (country) and meso (industry) level perspective and rarely explicitly apply a micro (firm) level perspective. Moreover, they tend to view DCF strategy in outsourcing collaborations as...

Private-sector development in a transition economy: The case of Vietnam

Since Vietnam introduced its Doi Moi reform policy in 1986, the development of the private sector has been a main policy concern for the government and the ruling Communist Party. The main development challenge for Vietnam is how to sustain economic growth and reduce poverty as the labour force continues to expand. It is envisaged that the private sector will play a major role in that respect. This article looks into the issue of whether the private sector can live up to widespread expectations. High and stable economic growth indicates that reforms have been consistent but also that private-sector initiatives have moved ahead of formal institutional changes. Private-sector development is new in Vietnam and starts from a low level. The public and foreign investment sectors are major players compared to the domestic private sector, which comprises many small firms. Poverty reduction has been impressive but it is only now that private-sector development is becoming an important contributor. Stemming the growth in inequality remains a challenge where the private sectors contribution to increasing public revenue has yet to materialise.

Chinese and Indian Multinationals in Denmark: Is There Anything Special About Them?

Foreign direct investment (FDI) stock from developing countries has surged in recent decades, with a six-fold increase in the period 1990–2000, and a threefold increase between 2001 and 2008 (UNCTAD, 2006, 2009). Developing country FDI flows have increased from a level around US

Garment exports from Vietnam: changes in supplier strategies

30 billion in 1990–5 (annual average) to a level around

Use of Aid Evaluation from an Organizational Perspective

90 billion in 2000–5; and as a share of global FDI, FDI from these countries has doubled since the 1990s so that they by 2009 account for more than 20 per cent of global FDI (UNCTAD, 2010). The developing country investors are not merely small firms: 99 of the Fortune 500 companies are by 2009 from developing countries. The surge in developing country FDI is mainly derived from investment from Asian developing countries; in the early stages, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea were leading, but more recently, India and China have become the leading Asian outward investors. This chapter will focus on the rise of Chinese and Indian investments.

What Explains Asian Investments in Denmark

This paper looks at Vietnams changes in export performance and supplier strategies in the global garment value chains as a result of shift in international trade arrangements. Trade and competitive theories are used to analyse supplier reactions to the shifts. After the changes the Vietnamese garment industry has sustained its high level of export growth and gained import market share at its main US market although not as much as China. However, the growth export performance appears to be a mere volume expansion. There is little evidence that the suppliers are pursuing functional upgrading strategies besides the fact that they are flexible serving several customers at different markets.

Transnational corporations and local firms in developing countries : linkages and upgrading

The evaluation of foreign aid is thoroughly integrated into the work of aid agencies. It is argued that evaluations contribute to organizational learning and are used to support change in policies and operations. How the use of evaluation is understood, however, depends on the organization perspective applied. Various organization perspectives are relevant. This article discusses the different approaches and looks at organizational practices and a number of case studies to address the question of how evaluation is used. The findings suggest that the use of evaluation for learning in agencies may be less important than other inputs, and evaluation results only partly support policy and operational changes. One single perspective on an organization cannot explain its evaluation processes and use. Different elements of the evaluation appear to be dominated by specific organization perspectives.

Firms in Developing Countries: A Theoretical Probe into the Borderland of Business Studies and Development Studies

In the spring of 2011, the Danish press announced that the Indian billionaire Shrinivas Dempe would invest between DKK 75 and 100 million in the Danish Soccer club FC Midtjylland. FC Midtjylland was chosen out of 58 football clubs from 20 countries. The investment would allow the Indian investor to get a foothold in the Danish soccer league. But it was not only to get into the Danish soccer league that the investment was contemplating. FC Midtjylland had over the years built a unique and outstanding ability to develop soccer talent. Indeed, the investment was reported mainly to be motivated by acquiring knowledge about training and organization which eventually could be transferred over to the Indian soccer league. This would develop and enhance Indian talent and raise the standards in Indian football.