Leveraging the interplay of digitalization and mobile resources to promote MNE entrepreneurship

Abstract

Research Summary

Powerful geopolitical, demographic, cultural, and technological forces are reshaping MNEs' markets, compelling them to be entrepreneurial in order to successfully adapt and grow. We argue that MNEs can leverage digital technologies to exploit their resources, especially mobile resources, to fuel and infuse entrepreneurship throughout their operations. By leveraging and exploiting mobile resources, digital technologies make it possible for MNEs to cultivate their entrepreneurial activities to create new knowledge, build valuable organizational capabilities, and develop new businesses. These arguments contribute to ongoing conversations about the growing role of entrepreneurship in MNEs, the value of mobile resources as a source of competitive advantage, the transformative role of digital technologies in the global marketplace, and IB theories on the sources of MNEs' competitive advantage in dynamic markets.

Managerial Summary

In today's rapidly changing global business environment, multinational enterprises (MNEs) face unprecedented challenges from geopolitical shifts, demographic changes, cultural evolution, and technological disruption. To thrive amidst these transformations, MNEs must embrace entrepreneurship throughout their global operations. This research demonstrates how MNEs can strategically use digital technologies to unlock the value of their mobile resources—including talent, knowledge, and capabilities that can be deployed across locations—to foster entrepreneurship enterprise-wide. By effectively leveraging these mobile resources through digital platforms, MNEs can:

• Generate new knowledge across geographic boundaries
• Build distinctive organizational capabilities that competitors cannot easily replicate
• Develop innovative business models and ventures that create value in dynamic markets

Our findings offer practical guidance for multinational executives seeking to enhance their firms' entrepreneurial capacity in a digital era. By intentionally combining mobile resource deployment with digital enablement, MNEs can create sustainable competitive advantages even as markets continue to evolve rapidly. This approach represents a crucial adaptation strategy for multinational firms navigating today's complex global business landscape.