New forms of organisation and R&D internationalisation among the world’s 100 largest food and beverage multinationals

This paper explores the strategic internationalisation of Research & Development activities of the world’s 100 largest food and beverages (F&B) multinationals (MNEs) in 1996 and 2000 with a sample of nearly 8,000 affiliates for each period. We develop a Global Innovation Strategy (GIS) structure where we analyse the R&D (Research and Development) internationalisation process of F&B MNEs. We argue that in a fully developed GIS model the sourcing of creative inputs does not come exclusively from a ‘central’ R&D laboratory, but other overseas R&D laboratories or technological affiliates can also undertake genuine knowledge creation activity from capitalising on the scientific heterogeneity fostered in individual host countries as well as distinctive demand conditions. Our results indicate the increasing importance of overseas technological affiliates in the application of a GIS in the leading F&B MNEs, which determine the degree of their technological internationalisation. Two variants of technological affiliates reflect two broad knowledge-related activities, i.e. adaptation and genuine forms of knowledge creation.Ruth Rama gratefully acknowledges support provided by PRIME (Policies for Research and Innovation in the Move towards the European Research Area), European Commission.Peer reviewe