Internationalization Strategies of Emerging-Market Multinational Enterprises: The Case of Investments Made by Yılport Holding in Port Cities in Foreign Countries

Abstract

The literature on internationalization strategies of multinational enterprises traditionally examines the activities and strategies of multinational enterprises originating from developed markets; besides, it is an area that is developing more rapidly with the multiplier effect of globalization processes. However, in recent years, this field has started to attract attention with the increase in foreign direct investments made by multinational enterprises originating from emerging markets to other countries. In this study, it is aimed to understand the contributions that multinational enterprises originating from emerging markets can make to mainstream theories in the field of international business, and to focus on the differences between emerging-market multinational enterprises and developed market multinational enterprises in terms of internationalization strategies. In this context, Yılport Holding, which is a container terminal operator in Turkey, and recently attracted attention with its foreign direct investments in both developed and emerging markets, by being the 11th largest company on a global scale in a very short time, has been examined as a case study. The fact that Yılport Holding, a multinational company originating from the emerging market, has grown rapidly through acquisitions in a very short time, as well as gaining an unexpected advantage in terms of ownership advantage, branding and courage to enter the market, are all in contradiction with traditional internationalization theories. These can be explained as the efforts of multinational enterprises originating from emerging markets to quickly catch up with and surpassing multinational enterprises originating from developed countries by eliminating various disadvantages arising from these markets.