Is Global Orientation Really Beneficial? An Exploratory Study of Chinese Manufacturers in International Markets

Abstract

This study provides an exploratory research on global orientation by integrating the resource-, industry-, and institution-based views to investigate the determinants of global orientation, and examining the performance outcomes of firms’ global orientation in an emerging economy of China. Using the data of manufacturing firms in China, we found that various firm, industry, and institutional characteristics have significant effects on global orientation, which, in turn, significantly influenced their firm performance. As many Korean firms are increasingly forced to compete with Chinese firms both in China’s domestic market and international markets, the results of the study should be of interest to managers of Korean companies, and will dictate important guidelines for Korean exporters to target international markets and to better understand the importance of global orientation in this process.