The Role of New Information and Communication Technologies in the Internationalization of Firms: A Case Study of Haier

It is now widely recognized that new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been changing the way tv which firms conduct their businesses. Examples are the application of enterprise resources planning (ERP) and business process reengineering (BPR) to increase the efficiency of internal resources management, adoption of Business-to-Business e-commerce (B2B e-com) to integrate supply chain, and invention of new marketing channels such as Business-to-Customer (B2C) e-com. These new ways of conducting businesses are believed to help firms to reduce transaction costs and increase productivity. As a result, new ICTs have played an important role in recent growth of many small firms into multi-functional and multi-product corporations and in their spatial expansion towards internationalization as well. This paper takes Haier in China as a case to study the role of new ICTs in the growth of firms and reveal how the new technologies have facilitated the expansion of Haier into a transnational corporation (TNC) by examining the internationalization process of the firm in relation to its adoption of new ICTs in the period from 1990 to 2002. The study reveals that the adoption of new Ins has helped Haier to integrate its functional units located in dozens of places across the world, which is essential to the internationalization of a firm, and to link closely together its worldwide suppliers and customers to achieve just-in-time (JIT) production and delivery. As such, the authors of the paper argue that, without the facilitation of new ICTS, Haier could not have developed into a TNC in less than ten years.It is now widely recognized that new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been changing the way tv which firms conduct their businesses. Examples are the application of enterprise resources planning (ERP) and business process reengineering (BPR) to increase the efficiency of internal resources management, adoption of Business-to-Business e-commerce (B2B e-com) to integrate supply chain, and invention of new marketing channels such as Business-to-Customer (B2C) e-com. These new ways of conducting businesses are believed to help firms to reduce transaction costs and increase productivity. As a result, new ICTs have played an important role in recent growth of many small firms into multi-functional and multi-product corporations and in their spatial expansion towards internationalization as well. This paper takes Haier in China as a case to study the role of new ICTs in the growth of firms and reveal how the new technologies have facilitated the expansion of Haier into a transnational corporation (TNC) by examining the internationalization process of the firm in relation to its adoption of new ICTs in the period from 1990 to 2002. The study reveals that the adoption of new Ins has helped Haier to integrate its functional units located in dozens of places across the world, which is essential to the internationalization of a firm, and to link closely together its worldwide suppliers and customers to achieve just-in-time (JIT) production and delivery. As such, the authors of the paper argue that, without the facilitation of new ICTS, Haier could not have developed into a TNC in less than ten years.

기업의 국제화와 신 정보통신기술의 역할: 중국 Haier 기업을 사례로

신 정보통신기술(ICTs)이 기업의 비즈니스 처리방식을 변화시키고 있다는 점은 일반적으로 받아들여지고 있다. 예를 들어. 기업의 내부자원 관리의 효율성을 제고하기 위한 ERP(enterprise resources planning)와 BPR(business process reengineering) 활용. 공급 연줄망을 통합하기 위한 기업-기업간 e-com의 적용. 그리고 기업-고객간 e-com과 같이 새로운 마켓팅 통로의 창출 등을 들 수 있다. 기업들은 이러한 새로운 방식의 비즈니스가 기업의 생산성 증대 및 개래비용의 절감 효과를 가져온다고 확신한다. 그 결과. 신 ICTs는 다양한 제품을 생산하는 많은 소규모 기업들의 최근 성장과 국제화를 통한 공간적 확산에 중요한 역할을 하고 있다. 본 연구는 중국 Haier 기업을 사례로 기업의 성장과정에 신 ICTs가 끼친 역할을 살펴본 것이다. Haier 기업은 1990년부터 2002년 시기에 초국적 기업으로 성장했는데, 그 배경으로 신 ICTs의 채택과 관련하여 기업의 국제화 과정을 연구한 것이다. 연구결과, Haier 기업의 신 ICTs의 채택은 세계 여러 지역에 위치한 기능체의 통합에 기여했으며. 이는 기업의 국제화에 필수적인 적기생산과 배달체계를 구축함으로써 세계적으로 광범위한 지역의 공급자와 구매자를 가깝게 연계시키는 결과를 가져왔다. 결론적으로 Haier 기업은 신 ICTs를 활용함으로써 10년 이내에 초국적기업으로 성장하게 되었다는 점이다.