Journal of World Business 50 (2015) 417427

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of World Business

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jwb

Accelerated internationalization and resource leverage strategizing:

The case of Chinese wind turbine manufacturers
Hao Tan a,*, John A. Mathews b
a
Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia1
b
Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Accelerated internationalization is an important phenomenon in international business (IB), where it has

been linked mainly with studies of born globals and patterns of internationalization utilized by small and
Article history:
Available online 11 June 2014 medium-sized enterprises. Building on recent research on the (redened) concept of speed of
internationalization, we seek to extend the domain of accelerated internationalization to encompass
cases where large rms in certain industries from emerging markets such as China and India globalize at
Keywords:
Accelerated internationalization an accelerated pace. We utilize cases from the Chinese wind turbine manufacturing industry to illustrate
Speed of internationalization the process, and apply strategic reasoning based on resource leverage as a means of explaining such
Linkage, leverage and learning (LLL) phenomena complementing the extant frameworks based on microeconomic reasoning. We argue that
Green sector rms both approaches are needed to make sense of the important empirical phenomena revealed by
Earliness of internationalization examination of the patterns of internationalization exhibited by emerging market multinationals.
Born globals 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Chinese wind turbine rms

1. Introduction increased from a mere 2.3 MW in 2007 to 430 MW in 2012, a

The rapid rise (and in some cases fall) of renewable energy
multinational companies from emerging economies in the
international market is stunning. Firms from the Chinese wind
turbine manufacturing industry, for example, have made a
spectacular debut on the world stage rising from nowhere in
the mid-2000s to world market leadership by 2009.2 A number of
Chinese wind turbine manufacturing companies have emerged as
signicant players in the industry, four of which are now among
the top ten wind turbine manufacturers in the world (Table 1). The
growth of Chinese wind turbine manufacturing companies is
attributable not only to the explosion of Chinese domestic demand
(with capacity installed now exceeding that of any other country),
but even more signicantly to their expansion into the interna-
tional market. According to the data from Chinese Wind Energy
Association (AWEA), exports of Chinese wind turbines have
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 2 4921 6748.
E-mail addresses: hao.tan@newcastle.edu.au (H. Tan),
john.mathews@mgsm.edu.au (J.A. Mathews).
1
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/prole/hao-tan.
2
As Lewis (2011) comments: It took rms in China, India and South Korea less
than 10 years to go from having no wind turbine manufacturing experience to have
the ability to manufacture complete wind turbine systems that are state-of-the-art
and either already available or soon to be available on the global market. (p. 301)
200-fold growth (Fig. 1). Chinese turbines are now sold in more
than 19 countries, and according to BNEF, the top four Chinese
wind turbine manufacturing companies accounted for 26.7% of the
world market in 2011 but falling back in 2012 to 16.6% (REN21,
2012).
Despite the setback in 2012, the creation, expansion and
internationalization of renewable energy companies from emerg-
ing economies has been nothing short of explosive, and has caught
the attention of scholars around the world (Zhang, Wang, Huo, &
Martinot, 2010). But so far it has elicited little comment from IB
scholars, with a few exceptions (Awate, Larsen, & Mudambi, 2012;
Pinkse & Kolk, 2012). Here we nd ample justication for
examining how rms from emerging economies globalize at an
accelerated pace, and for framing the strategic reasoning to
account for accelerated internationalization.
In this paper, we focus on accelerated internationalization (AI)
as a distinctive pattern characterizing the international expansion
of emerging market multinational enterprises (EM-MNEs) and
explore its possible drivers, using Chinese wind turbine manu-
facturers as a case study. We ask two questions in this paper: (1)
how to properly dene accelerated internationalization? and (2)
What accounts for the phenomenon, especially in the case of EM-
MNCs? Accordingly, our paper makes two contributions. First, we
build on the recent research on speed of internationalization
(Casillas & Acedo, 2013; Casillas & Moreno-Menendez, 2014;

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2014.05.005
1090-9516/ 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
418 H. Tan, J.A. Mathews / Journal of World Business 50 (2015) 417427

Table 1 in an accelerating fashion. We thereby aim to shed light on the

Market shares of top 10 wind turbine manufacturers, 2011.
debate over global competitive advantages of EM-EMEs and their
Rank Wind turbine Country of Global market internationalization (Cuervo-Cazurra, 2012; Hennart, 2012; Peng,
manufacturer origin share (%) 2012; Yamakawa, Khavul, Peng, & Deeds, 2013).
1 Vestas Denmark 12.9 We examine AI of EM-MNCs in the context of a renewable
2 Goldwind China 9.4 energy industry, namely the wind turbine manufacturing industry
3 GE Wind USA 8.8 in China. Compared with other industries, renewable energy-
4 Gamesa Spain 8.2
related industries have distinctive features and seem to provide a
5 Enercon Germany 7.9
6 Suzlon Group India 7.7 powerful test bed for theories of internationalization and global
7 Sinovel China 7.3 strategizing of EM-MNEs. This is so for at least ve reasons: the
8 United Power China 7.1 industries in emerging economies are recent (so that their entire
9 Siemens Wind Power Germany 6.3
trajectory can be evaluated); they are highly competitive while
10 Ming Yang China 2.9
Others 21.5
also being guided by national policy; they have surprisingly
spawned the creation of many EM-MNEs and promise to create
Total sales >40 GW many more; the role of technology development lies at the core of
Source: REN21 (2012). those EM-MNEs international success; and they are totally global
in both their operations and strategizing.
Chetty, Johanson, & Martn, 2014), and focus on change in the speed
of internationalization as a novel way to conceptualize accelerated
2. Re-dening accelerated internationalization as a distinctive
internationalization (AI). Unlike previous studies on AI, we believe
pattern of internationalization
the concept of AI should be kept separate from the concept of born
globals, because they have different dening characteristics. We
The term AI rst caught the attention of IB scholars (Oviatt &
re-conceptualize AI by focusing on the rapidity of internationali-
McDougall, 1997; Shrader, Oviatt, & McDougall, 2000) in the 1990s. It
zation and operationalize AI accordingly; while we see the
has been utilized particularly to emphasize the distinctive interna-
phenomenon of born globals as more concerned with the
tionalization patterns of small and medium-sized enterprises.3 In
earliness of internationalization.
Shrader et al. (2000, p. 1227), AI was dened as the phenomenon of
Second, we explore possible drivers of AI on the part of
rms engaging in the international business activities earlier in their
emerging market multinational enterprises (EM-MNEs) utilizing a
organizational life cycles than they have historically where the
resource leveraging perspective. While AI can be observed in
examples are overwhelmingly of SMEs. In previous studies, the
companies from both developed and developing countries, the
speed is considered a key dimension of AI, which commonly refers to
pattern appears more pronounced and evident among EM-MNEs in
time elapsed since the year rms were founded until the rst year of
recent years, as discussed intensively in the IB literature (Bonaglia,
exporting (Musteen, Fancis, & Datta, 2010; Pla-Barber & Escriba-
Goldstein, & Mathews, 2007; Yeoh, 2010; Yiu, 2011). As Deng
Esteve, 2006, p. 264). The concept of AI in this sense overlaps with
(2012, p. 319) puts it, AI is perhaps the most startling
other concepts in IB such as international new ventures (INVs) or
characteristic of EM-EMEs internationalization. A range of factors
born globals. In fact, AI has been used almost interchangeably with
can be suggested as possible driving forces producing AI by EM-
terms such as born-global, international new venture, global start-
MNEs, including those derived from the industry-based, institu-
up, international entrepreneurship, new venture internationaliza-
tion-based and resource-based views (Peng, 2009). In this present
tion and early internationalization in previous studies (Rialp, Rialp,
paper, we bring a strategic focus to bear on the issue, utilizing the
& Knight, 2005; Yeoh, 2010).
notion of resource leveraging as a key strategic factor enabling EM-
A recent stream of research has re-examined the concept of
MNEs to accelerate their internationalization. Utilizing the
speed in the internationalization process of the rm (Casillas &
Linkage, Leverage, and Learning (LLL) framework established by
Acedo, 2013; Casillas & Moreno-Menendez, 2014; Chetty et al.,
Mathews (2002, 2006a, 2006b), we argue that AI of many EM-
2014). As Autio, Sapienza, and Almeida (2000, p. 909) pointed out,
MNEs has been facilitated by their LLL strategies; the sequence is
speed of internationalization (SoI) could refer to both the time lag
characterized by forging initial linkages with established players,
between the founding of a rm and its initiation of international
and leveraging resources (technologies, skilled personnel, market
operations and the pace of its subsequent international growth;
access) from them. As this is repeated over and over again, so a
and the two concepts have not been sufciently distinguished in
process of organizational and economic learning is accomplished
the literature. While SoI in the latter sense is largely an under-
researched topic (Casillas & Acedo, 2013; Prashantham & Young,
2011), this dimension is considered critical to understanding
internationalization as a time-based process (Jones & Coviello,
2005). Thus Casillas and Acedo (2013) propose a typology to
classify different approaches to study SoI according to whether: (1)
the focus is on discontinuous or continuous changes; or (2) the
analysis is based on a short-term or long-term timescale.
Prashantham and Young (2011, p. 277) distinguish between initial
entry and post-entry speed of international new ventures (INVs);
and argue that such a distinction is particularly critical for the
long-term growth and success or failure of knowledge- and
technology-intensive INVs. Finally, in their comprehensive review
of the concept of SoI, Chetty et al. (2014, p. 2) conclude that most

Fig. 1. Exports of Chinese wind turbines: 20072012 (MW per year).
Source: Based on CWEA (2013).
3
This is despite that Oviatt and McDougall (1997) remarked that the
acceleration of the internationalization process in rms worldwide appears to
be a more pervasive phenomenon than INVs (i.e. international new ventures) and
thus called for studies beyond small and medium enterprises.
 H. Tan, J.A. Mathews / Journal of World Business 50 (2015) 417427
studies lack a clear denition and discussion about the nature or
content of the concept [. . .]; and they argue that the common
measurement of the concept, namely the time to internationaliza-
tion, lacks a solid theoretical background and has limited content
validity (p. 8). Therefore, Chetty et al. (2014, p. 2) dene SoI as the
rms average rate of international expansion.
In this paper we explicitly relate AI to this redened concept of
SoI, and operationalize AI accordingly. This recent stream of
research on SoI makes important contributions highlighting a
critical aspect of internationalization. However, most studies have
yet to develop explicit measurements for the concept (Chetty et al.,
2014). A few exceptions have employed mainly event-based
measures concerning time intervals between key international
operations of the rm (Casillas & Moreno-Menendez, 2014);
whereas measures that reect continuous changes of an interna-
tionalization process seem useful. Further, none of the previous
studies have focused on the change of SoI. The current paper seeks
to take the research one step further on these fronts.
As the term acceleration literally suggests, we argue in this
paper that a more appropriate dening characteristic of acceler-
ated internationalization should be the change of rapidity of rm
internationalization at a given time or over a certain period of time,
rather than the earliness of internationalization as previous
studies emphasize. This would be consistent with wider practice.
In Newtonian physics, for example, the term acceleration is
dened as the rate at which the velocity of a body changes with
time, as expressed as follows:
Dv
a
Dt
Dv
a lim
D t ! 0 Dt
where a and a are average and instantaneous acceleration
respectively; Dv is the change in velocity and Dt is the change
in time; limDt ! 0 Dv=Dt is the rate of change of velocity over an
innitesimal internal of time.
Consistent with this approach to dening speed (velocity) and
acceleration as the rate of change of velocity, we argue that the
concept of accelerated internationalization in IB should then focus
on the change of pace or speed of internationalization of the rm,
rather than on the timing of its rst foreign market entry. As we will
describe in our case studies below, rapid internationalization of a
rm may take off after the rm has been founded for many years. In
other words, an established rm may accelerate its internationali-
zation, as observed with a sudden expansion of international
operations. The international expansion may then slow down after a
period of rapid internationalization for reasons such as market
saturation or organizational costs and complexity associated with a
high degree of internationalization. In many cases, the pattern of
accelerated internationalization may be visually described with an
S-curve. We believe that the particular period of drastic interna-
tional expansion should be referred to as accelerated internation-
alization proper; and therefore, there is a need to distinguish the
phenomenon of AI from other internationalization patterns and
processes that have been widely discussed in the IB literature,
notably the gradual (incremental) process of internationalization
and the born globals. A comparison of those three internationaliza-
tion patterns in their abstract forms is shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2a reects the notion of the Uppsala internationalization
framework and describes internationalization as the perceived
sequence of stages passed through by rms as they gradually gain
more international experience (Johanson & Vahlne, 1977). The focus
419
of this internationalization process is on the choice of foreign markets
and the sequencing and staging of commitments to foreign markets;
and over the process the rm becomes more established in the
international market. A further feature of this behavioural approach
was to focus on the actual sequence of activities and the institutional
form they took as a rm increased its activities in a chosen foreign
market though a sequence. The sequence typically starts tentatively
with limited foreign involvement such as indirect and direct
exporting, and then incrementally increasing its commitment by
establishing a foreign sales subsidiary; and nally expansion of the
subsidiarys activities to encompass production and other functions
such as R&D as its knowledge of the market grew.
A second distinctive internationalization pattern has been
found among many small and medium enterprises during recent
years that are termed born globals (Oviatt & McDougall, 1995;
Shrader et al., 2000) (Fig. 2b). It has been noticed that one of the
effects of globalization in the 1990s was that rms could operate
on a global basis almost as soon as they were established by
drawing on resources made available around the world, and by
dispensing with much of the baggage carried by more established
rms. These born global rms almost bypass internationalization
as a process since they are started and operate from day one in
global markets as global players, servicing their customers
wherever they are to be found (Rialp et al., 2005).
We focus on a third pattern of internationalization in this paper,
namely accelerated internationalization (AI) which focuses on the
change in speed of internationalization (Fig. 2c). AI can feature as a
rapid expansion of foreign sales as a proportion of the total sales by
the rm, but may also be reected in signicant international
involvements in other forms such as aggressive cross-border
mergers and acquisitions (M&As) (Sun, Peng, Ren, & Yan 2012), or
international sourcing for technologies and materials through
channels such as contracting or licensing arrangements, joint
ventures and collaborative R&D (Lewis, 2007, 2012; Mathews,
2002). Firms that experience AI are not necessarily young or small.
2.1. Operationalization of AI
Until recently measures for speed of internationalization (SoI)
as dened as the rms rate of international expansion had been
rare, let alone the change in speed of internationalization. Some
recent studies operationalize SoI by employing event-based
measures. For example, Casillas and Moreno-Menendez (2014)
measure SoI based on the time between signicant international
operations of the rm such as acquisitions of a foreign rm,
creation of foreign subsidiaries or joint ventures, establishment of
strategic alliances and so on. Similarly, in Gao and Pan (2010), the
pace of rms sequential foreign market entries is measured with
the time interval between the entries. Morgan-Thomas and Jones
(2009) determine speed of rms international growth using
several thresholds. For example, rms that achieve at least 50% of
revenue from overseas markets in less than 10 years from the
initiation of internationalization are considered rapid exporters;
and other rms are categorized as regular internationalizers or
reluctant internationalizers respectively, according to the pre-set
thresholds (Morgan-Thomas & Jones, 2009). For their part,
Prashantham and Young (2011) propose to measure the post-
entry speed based on country scope (i.e. number of countries) and
international commitment (i.e. percent of international revenues).
They do not provide further details as to how those two
dimensions would be combined with the time factor to establish
a measurement in their conceptual paper (Prashantham & Young,
2011). Finally, Chetty et al. (2014) develop their construct of speed
of internationalization based on two dimensions, namely speed of
international learning and speed of international commitment,
which are in turn measured with a number of latent indicators.
420 H. Tan, J.A. Mathews / Journal of World Business 50 (2015) 417427
Fig. 2. Three internationalization patterns.
As our redened concept of AI is concerned with the change in
the speed of rm internationalization, we propose two measures
for AI, as follows:
DDoI=Dt
AI
Dt
DDoI=Dt
AI lim
Dt ! 0 Dt
where DoI is the degree of internationalization, AI is the
acceleration of rm internationalization over a period of time
Dt; and AI is the acceleration at a certain point of time. DDoI refers
to the change of degree of internationalization of the rm over a
period of time Dt; while limDt!0(DDoI/Dt)/Dt is the rate of the
change of DDoI/Dt at a point of time. In a DoI vs. time graph, AI at
any point of time can be calculated based on the slope of the
tangent line at the point in the curve. The existing literature on
internationalization of rm tends to measure DoI with indicators
such as the ratios of foreign sales to total sales (FSTS), the ratio of
foreign assets to total assets (FATA), or the number of foreign
employees to number of total employees (FETE). Among those,
FSTS is perhaps the most widely adopted measure of DoI (Chen &
Tan, 2012; Hitt, Tihanyi, Miller, & Connelly, 2006).
2.2. Accelerated internationalization of EM-MNEs and the driving
forces
The key question is: what accounts for the phenomenon
of accelerated internationalization, especially in the case of
EM-MNCs? In previous studies, a number of determinants have
been suggested ranging from factors at the level of individual
managers (such as managers attitude and international orienta-
tion), those at the rm level (such as the rms resources and
capabilities in learning and networking), and at the industry level
(such as the nature of the technology) (Pla-Barber & Escriba-Esteve,
2006; Rialp et al., 2005; Weerawardena, Mort, Liesch, & Knight,
2007). In more recent studies on SoI, a number of driving factors have
also been highlighted, ranging from experiential learning (Casillas &
Moreno-Menendez, 2014; Gao & Pan, 2010) to social capital and
absorptive capacity (Prashantham & Young, 2011). In their review,
Casillas and Acedo (2013) categorize drivers of SoI into three groups,
namely those at the individual level such as foreign experience, at the
rm level including resources and location of the rm, and at the
interorganizational level such as social network and international
alliances. On the other hand, the conventional frameworks in IB such
as the OLI framework have focused on microeconomic reasoning to
explain internationalization of rms. The eclectic framework of
internationalization introduced by Dunning (1981) based on
transaction costs reasoning emphasized three kinds of advantages
that might ow to the internationalized rm, namely ownership,
locational and internalization advantages. However, the eclectic OLI
framework does not seem to account for time-related aspects of
internationalization; and the strategic reasoning as to how rms
especially those from emerging markets manage to rapidly
internationalize at some points of time is yet to be resolved.
The discussion of AI has been prominent in recent IB studies on
internationalization of companies from emerging or developing
countries. For example, Bonaglia et al. (2007) demonstrate that AI is
 H. Tan, J.A. Mathews / Journal of World Business 50 (2015) 417427 421

both an outcome and an enabler for latecomer companies to build 20%

their competitive advantage in both home and international 18%
markets. Yiu (2011) focuses on rapid increase in outward foreign 16%
direct investment (FDI) by business groups from China; and 14% Tangent line lines
provides convincing explanations for the phenomenon by recon- at dierent points
12%
ciling the eclectic framework based on the ownership, location and

internalization (OLI) advantages with the more recent LLL
framework (Mathews, 2006a). Deng (2012) sees AI as primarily
driven by a range of rm-specic and domestic institutional factors.
By rm-specic factors, Deng highlights relational competence,
learning capability, and networking as key advantages of EM-MNCs
in facilitating their rapid overseas expansions. In their study on
internationalization of Czech SMEs, Musteen et al. (2010) also
reveal that the international network of SME CEOs has signicant
impact on the rms internationalization outcomes including the
speed and performance of internationalization. Finally, Sun et al.
(2012) focus on cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as a
key instrument employed by EM-MNCs from China and India to
achieve rapid internationalization. They argue that the phenome-
non cannot be fully explained by a single framework in the current
IB literature, for which they integrate the comparative advantage
theory with Dunnings OLI paradigm to better understand the
phenomenon. We shall return to this discussion in Section 4.
3. Case study: internationalization of Chinese wind turbine
manufacturers
In this section, we examine internationalization of Chinese
wind turbine manufacturers based on secondary data from a range
of sources, including industrial associations, corporate reports,
a. Goldwind
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
FSTS
FSTS
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
FSTS logisc model
Fig. 4. Illustrating the calculation of AI at a given point of time.
company websites, media interviews and media reports. China has
now installed more wind capacity than any other country in the
world, growing from just over 1 GW in 2005 to approximately
62.4 GW of cumulative wind capacity by the end of 2011, or about
26% of the total installed capacity in the world (REN21, 2012). This
provides the background to the rise of Chinese wind turbine
manufacturing companies, where several rms rapidly interna-
tionalizing during the past several years, notably Goldwind and
Sinovel, as indicated by the companies foreign sales as a
proportion of their total sales (Fig. 3). Although both companies
and their predecessor companies have been founded for years, they
had little presence in the international market until recently; and
have emerged as EM-MNEs in the global wind turbine market
within just several years. As shown in Fig. 3, the ratio of the foreign
sales to the total sales (FSTS) in both companies has grown rapidly
since 2010 when their internationalization took off. The FSTS index
of Goldwind reached more than 15 percent in 2013 within just
three years from almost nothing prior to 2010. Even more
drastically, the FSTS of Sinovel increased from zero in 2010 to

8%
42 percent in 2013. Based on the measure we proposed earlier, the
average acceleration of internationalization of Goldwind between
6%
the Dec. 2007 and the June 2013, for example, is calculated as an
4% increase of 15% in speed of internationalization over a period of 5.5
2% years, or 0.5% increase per year, per year. (Recall that acceleration
is an increase in speed of internationalization, where the latter is
0%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 expressed as a % increase per year.) Similarly, that of Sinovel during
the same period is calculated as (42%0) as divided by a span of 3.3
b. Sinovel years, or 3.4% DOI per year, per year an acceleration rate which is
45% much higher than that of Goldwind for that period of time.
The acceleration of internationalization of the company at a
40%
given time can also be calculated. As shown in Fig. 4, we rst t a
35% non-linear, logistic curve to the data, as the current curves need to be
30% transferred to non-linear curves in order to determine the slope of a
25% tangent line at a given point.4 Based on the chosen model, the slopes
FSTS

of the tangent lines, or the acceleration of internationalization of

20%
Goldwind and Sinovel, can be calculated for various years.5 The data
15% suggest that the two Chinese companies have experienced positive
10%

5% 4
We chose a logistic curve with an upper boundary value of 50% to illustrate the
0% calculation. This is not only because in this case the model results in a higher R2 than
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 those of other possible models such as a power model or a compound model; but
also the model seems to reect an AI process better as we discussed in Section 2.
5
Fig. 3. Accelerated internationalization of Goldwind and Sinovel. FSTS = the ratio of At the end of 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and at the end of rst half year in
foreign sales to total sales of the company. 2013, the rates of acceleration for Goldwind are 0.44%, 0.99%, 1.70%, 3.50%, 6.30%
Source: Authors based on data available from the companies annual and half-yearly and 9.20% per year, per year, respectively. Similarly, the acceleration of
reports; the 2013 gures are based on the half-yearly reports of the companies in internationalization of Sinovel at the end of 2010, 2011, 2012 and at the end of
2013. rst half year in 2013 would be 0.007%, 0.56%, 30% and 12% respectively.
422 H. Tan, J.A. Mathews / Journal of World Business 50 (2015) 417427

acceleration in their internationalization in the past several years;
and the acceleration of Sinovel is generally higher than that of
Goldwind. We detail the internationalization process of the two
companies below.
Goldwind was a rst mover in the context of Chinas efforts to
build a windpower industry. It was established in the late 1980s in
the far-western province of Xinjiang as a small wind farm operator
based on imported wind turbines. As the rst Chinese domestic
wind turbine producer, the company started to manufacture wind
turbines in 1998; and soon started its own R&D on the 600 kW
wind turbines based on foreign technologies, an effort that was
supported in the Ninth Five-Year Plan by the Ministry of Science
and Technology as one of the State-funded key projects. Goldwind
was Chinas largest wind turbine manufacturer and the second
largest in the world in 2011 in terms of annual sales, spanning all
aspects of the business. The company sold its rst domestic wind
turbine in 2000; and in 2004 it took a big step by winning a
government contract to supply 60 turbines to the 100 MW Yuedian
wind farm. It went on to establish a nancing subsidiary which also
developed wind farms of its own, while improving its capabilities
in turbine construction. For this purpose, Goldwind has been a
successful practitioner of technology licensing, utilizing German
sources. Initial forays were a license to the 600 kW turbine from
Jacobs, a small German rm, and the 750 kW turbine from German
rm REPower (subsequently acquired by Indian rm Suzlon)
allowing Goldwind to produce 600 kW and 750 kW turbines in
1999 and 2001. Goldwind went on to absorb this technology and
move to collaborative R&D ventures, such as joint design of
1.2 MW turbine with German rm Vensys, which it subsequently
came to control, acquiring a 70% stake. Through these means it was
able to indigenously innovate to produce its own turbines,
particularly those with Permanent Magnet Direct Drive (PMDD)
technology, which eliminates the need for gearing. This could well
become the dominant technology in the industry, particularly for
offshore turbines, and Goldwind as its key practitioner.
Goldwind internationalized at a relatively late age in terms of
the foreign sales, winning its rst international order from Cuba in
2008 and opening its rst overseas sales ofce in Australia in 2009.
The company then secured a foothold in the US by winning a
contract to supply three 1.5 MW turbines to the Uilk wind farm in
Pipestone, Minnesota. Goldwind partnered with local rms to
develop the wind farm, importing its own turbines, and used this
experience to build a fully comprehensive US subsidiary, Goldwind
USA, with an American CEO (Abrami & Koch-Weser, 2012).
Goldwind now promotes itself in the US as a Chinese rm
mastering German PMDD technology which is cost-effective, now
being sold for less than $1 per watt. Goldwind USA has its
headquarters in Chicago, and by 2012 it had sold around 300 MW
of PMDD turbines, the largest order being the Shady Oaks project in
Illinois rated at more than 100 MW. The role of linkage with foreign
rms and leveraging knowledge and market access from them is
clear in the companys strategy.
The companys exploration sales strategy, which is featured
with directly investing in local wind farms in foreign countries and
equipping the wind farms with its own products, has enabled the
company to achieve substantial exportation and establish its
reputation in a relatively short period of time (Sun & Yang, 2013).
The company has adopted the same strategy in Chile, Australia,
Romania, Panama and other countries. By 2012, Goldwind had sold
almost 672 MW of wind turbines to over 16 foreign countries; and
the foreign sales accounted for 15% of the companys total sales. A
timeline of the international development of the company is
shown in Fig. 5.
Sinovel was founded in 2003 by a state-owned enterprise that is
long established in the heavy machinery industry. By 2012 it had
risen to become one of the largest wind turbine manufacturing
companies in China and in the world in terms of cumulative
delivered wind power capacity. The company was the rst to
introduce and localize the mainstream 1.5-MW wind turbine
technologies in China based on foreign technologies, and later
successfully developed its own 3-MW land and offshore wind
turbine technologies. Sinovel leapt to prominence in China in 2007
when it won the contract to supply turbines to Shanghais offshore
windpower project, the Donghai Bridge Offshore 100 MW wind
farm. Sinovel worked with Windtec (a subsidiary of AMSC) to
develop leading-edge 3- and 5-MW turbines (bypassing the
kilowatt stage), and by 2010 it had supplied all 34 offshore
turbines to the Donghai Bridge project with its own MW-power

2006-
2008
Prior to
2006 Set up a R&D and
assembling subsidiary in
Germany in 2006; Aquired
Run wind farms with a 70% stake of the German
imported wind turbines rm Vensys in 2008 for
from Denmark and Euro 5million; exported a
Germany since 1980s. wind turbine to Cuba as the
Started R&D and rst Chiense wind turbine
manfucturing wind turbines sold to overseas markets
based on the Germen
technology.
2009-
2010
Sold 1.5 MW in Europe;
operated a wind farm with
a capacy of 4.5MW in
Minnesota, US; won
contract of to supply 50
MW of wind turbines in
Ethiopia; signed the
agreement with Inneon
for sourcing the core
module technology.
2013
2011-
2012 Won contracts from
Thailand, Turkey, Romania,
Pakistan, Panama, Chile
and other
Supplied 47 wind turbines countries/regions
to a wind farm in Chile;
started to operate a wind
farm in Australia with 165.5
MW of capacity; signed a
strategic cooperaon
agreement with the
Chinese Development Bank
with US$ 6 billion credit line
to expand overseas
markets

Fig. 5. Timeline of the international development: Goldwind.

Source: Authors, based on corporate reports, company websites and media reports.
 H. Tan, J.A. Mathews / Journal of World Business 50 (2015) 417427 423

machines. Since then Sinovel has internationalized rapidly,
opening sales and production points in several countries including
the US, Brazil, Sweden, Turkey, India and South Africa. In the US
Sinovel won a contract to supply a 1.5 MW turbine for a pumping
station in Charleston, Boston. Sinovel has worked closely with the
US rm AMSC and its subsidiary Windtec, but in 2012 the two
companies fell out; Sinovel has subsequently been embroiled in an
IPR-infringement suit with Windtec and AMSC. In 2011, the
company won an order for 23 1.5-MW turbines in Brazil, an order
for two 3-MW turbines in Sweden, and two of the eight projects in
the rst round of government tender in South Africa. It is thus now
a completely globalized company that can bid for contracts
anywhere in the world albeit one with the liability of a lawsuit
alleging IPRs infringement hanging over it. A timeline of Sinovels
international development is shown in Fig. 6.
Ming Yang by contrast is a private-sector rm that launched
into the wind turbine manufacturing industry relatively late in
2006, based in Zhongshan in the southern Guangdong province
(Pearl River Delta). Previously a relatively small manufacturer of
electrical transmission and distribution equipment, the company
became one of top 10 wind turbine manufacturers in less than ve
years. Since 2010 it has been listed on the New York Stock
Exchange the rst Chinese wind turbine manufacturer to do so. It
has collaborated with the German rm Aerodyn Energiesysteme to
jointly develop turbines which have won German technical quality
certication. Ming Yang has leapfrogged to the lead technologi-
cally, through its alliance with Aerodyn, and now offers 1.5 MW
three-blade turbines and 2.5 MW as well as 3.0 MW Super
Compact Drive (SCD) advanced two-blade turbines, while it has
announced that larger 5- and 6-MW turbines for release in 2013,
and an even larger 12 MW model is said to be under development.
Ming Yang has established a strong manufacturing base and
associated supply chain cluster at Zhongshan. The company taps
into global knowledge networks through establishing R&D Centres
in both Denmark (near Vestas) and in the US. In 2012 Ming Yang
announced a strategic partnership with Indias Reliance group to
develop wind turbines for the Indian market and beyond into
Southeast Asia. This South-South pattern of joint development is
surely one of the characteristics of the emerging MNEs from
emerging markets. The company has R&D centres in both Denmark
and the US, demonstrating its capacity to leverage knowledge
resources from the developed world.
While the international sales of Ming Yang are much more
modest than those of Goldwind and Sinovel, the company has
recently shown signs of rapid expansion in the international
market. In 2012, the company sold 33 sets of wind turbines to
foreign markets, making the company the third largest wind
turbine exporter in China in terms of the number of turbines, or 5th
in terms of the total capacity of exported turbines. Although its
revenue from foreign markets (RMB 13 million) represented less
than 1% of its total revenue in 2012, it had more than 30% of non-
current assets located in countries outside China by the end of
2012, suggesting a possible expansion of foreign sales in the next
several years. The timeline of its international development is
shown in Fig. 7.
There are certain common features present in the cases
discussed above. The primary features lie in the fact that, rst,
as latecomers they sought to establish capacity by tapping into
sources of technological knowledge. They utilize global sources
such as technologies to be accessed either through licensing or
through corporate acquisitions; they access knowledge from
around the world through establishing R&D Centres in key
locations; they deploy novel and well-adapted global expansion
techniques such as the exploration sales; they utilize local
suppliers while operating comfortably through global value
chains; and they recognize other global rms as their primary
competitors rather than small domestic rivals. They launch
aggressive marketing and sales in the international market once
they have certain capacity to compete with the global leaders in
the industry. In this way, our case study rms demonstrate

2013

Foreign sales increased by

108% on a yearly basis; set
up subsidaries in Europe,
Aisa and Arca; shipped
2012 wind turbines to India, the
US, Sweden, Turkey and
others.

Set up a subsidary as its

internaonal invesment
plaorm; the rao of
foreign sales to total sales
2011 inclreased from less than 1%
in 2011 to 12% in 2012

2010 Successfully won contracts

Signed a strategic
cooperaon agreement with
the Chinese Development
Bank with US$ 6.5 billion
credit line to expand
overseas markets; started to
establish a sales network in
the US, Spain, Canada,
Austrlaia and Brazil.
in the US, Brazil, Sweden,
Turkey, India, South Africa
and other countries; sales to
overseas markets had an
explosive increase, growing
by 10 thousand mes on a
yearly basis.

Fig. 6. Timeline of the international development: Sinovel.

Source: Authors, based on corporate reports, company websites and media reports.
424 H. Tan, J.A. Mathews / Journal of World Business 50 (2015) 417427

2013

2012 Entered an agreement with a

2009-2011
Set up a subsidiaray in the US.
Entered strategic cooporave
agreements with several
Chinese banks and was granted
up to RMB 10 billion (US $ 1.6
billion) of loans and credit
facilies for its overseas
operaons
Fig. 7. Timeline of the international development: Ming Yang.
Source: Authors, based on corporate reports, company websites and media reports.
leading renewable energy
developer in Romania and
became the equipment
Acquried a 50% equity interest supplier for its 200MW wind
in GWPL in India for US$25 farm project
million. A framework
agreement involving up to USD
3 billion of projects was signed
with its Indian partner; and its
manufacturing wind turbines in
India to serve the local market
is planned

accelerated internationalization in their repeated exercise of
sequences of linkage and leverage, experienced as enhanced levels
of learning.
4. Discussion
We are not claiming uniformity in the internationalization
pattern of those rms in our case study; what we seek to explain is
the distinctiveness of the pattern of internationalization of some of
the rms such as Goldwind and Sinovel. There could be a number
of factors driving the accelerated internationalization by EM-MNEs
in the renewable energy-related industries. According to a
traditional strategic analysis (Porter, 1980), several industrial
forces have greatly contributed to the rapid growth and
internationalization of Chinese wind manufacturers. First, the
strong demand of renewable energy-related products in the
international market in recent years, especially that in European
countries, has provided a window of opportunity for their rapid
internationalization. On the supply side, Chinese wind turbine
manufacturers have taken advantage of their competitiveness in
terms of production cost. As shown in Fig. 8, the cost of wind
turbines produced by Chinese companies has fallen sharply since
2009. This coincides with the rapid internationalization of major
Fig. 8. Historical and projected cost reduction in wind turbines by Chinese
manufacturers. Note: the ofcial USD to RMB exchange rate ranged between 6.6 and
8.3 during the period 20042010. On average it traded at approximately 7.5 yuan
per US dollar.
Source: ERI (2011).
Chinese wind turbine manufactures, suggesting that the cost
reduction has at least partially been driven by their aggressive
export that helps build up their production scale. This echoes the
observations by Awate et al. (2012) who see internationalization of
wind manufacturers such as Suzlon in India as being driven by
their pursuit of both output and innovation capabilities. Further, as
providers of substitute technologies for the traditional fossil fuel-
based electricity technology, companies in renewable energy-
related industries face great uncertainties in technological
development. In the transition from the fossil fuel-based energy
system to the renewable-based energy system, newcomers from
emerging economies seem better able to capture the opportunities
as they are less locked-in the existing fossil fuel systems.
From a more recent institution-based view in IB (Peng, Wang, &
Jiang, 2008), the national and international institutional environ-
ments have been highlighted by scholars as a principal driver of
rapid internationalization by some Chinese wind turbine
manufacturing companies (Dai & Xue, 2014). For example,
government supports in a variety of forms such as subsidies,
capital cost rebates, feed-in tariffs, tax credits and cheap loans by
state-owned banks have all played a role in promoting growth of
Chinese wind turbine rms in both domestic and foreign markets
(Yang and Pan, 2011).
However, the technological leapfrogging and the resulting
accelerated internationalization as achieved by companies such as
Goldwind or Sinovel are not universally seen among rms even
within the same industry and the same institutional environment.
Other Chinese wind turbine manufacturing manufacturers inter-
nationalize at a much slower rate than the national champions,
Goldwind and Sinovel. For example, United Power, a subsidiary of
the China Guodian Corporation which is one of the ve largest
power producers in China, started its export activity in 2011 and
sold 9 MW of wind turbines to the US market; but the company did
not achieve further exports in 2012 and 2013. This suggests that a
resource-based view (RBV) may be a more relevant theoretical
perspective in this circumstance. The RBV emphasizes the unique
bundles of resources and capabilities by individual rms as the key
determinants of their strategic behaviours and performance
(Wernerfelt, 1984). In this discussion, we thus focus on the
companies technology leverage as a key strategizing dimension
contributing to their accelerated internationalization.
Hamel and Prahalad (1993) created a sensation in strategy with
their notion that rms with ambitions to move to the lead in an
 H. Tan, J.A. Mathews / Journal of World Business 50 (2015) 417427
industry, or to catch up with existing leaders and displace them,
typically employ stretch goals rather than being content with t
and put these stretch goals into effect through resource leverage.
This description certainly ts advanced rms like Cisco, with their
capacity to externally leverage technologies via well-tuned
processes of merger and acquisition. It also matches the
circumstances of many EM-MNEs that start from behind, as
latecomers, but have strong ambition to catch-up and even
overtake industry leaders. Building on this notion, Mathews (2002,
2006a, 2006b) developed the LLL framework to explain the source
of competitiveness of latecomer multinational companies from
developing economies. In this paper, we advance this research by
arguing that accelerated internationalization is an important
aspect of this LLL process, as is evident in our cases of Chinese wind
turbine manufacturing companies. They all seemed to rst enter
the eld by forming various types of partnerships with companies
from developed countries in order to tap into sources of
technological knowledge (linkage); they then quickly built their
capability by capturing opportunities arising from the technologi-
cal and market dynamics and exploiting advantages of both its
foreign partners and itself (leverage); and they learnt from
technological leaders which ultimately lead to indigenous
innovation that are adapted to the local context (learning).
Facing great technological barriers by leading wind turbine
companies, an example of a leveraging strategy that Chinese
companies have employed is to establish licensing agreements
with second-tier foreign companies in the industry. Those smaller
companies are more likely to share their technologies because
they have less to lose in terms of international competition, and
more to gain in license fees (Lewis, 2007, p. 226). Chinese
companies also benetted from the local content policy that
required 70% of the turbine content in concession wind power
projects to be made locally (Lewis, 2012). Due to this policy, foreign
companies needed to form joint ventures with domestic manu-
facturers in order to enter into the vast Chinese market, and this
provided local rms with opportunities to access leading
technologies in the industry. Chinese companies then complement
those key technologies with other existing advantages, such as
institutional supports from the home countries, growing domestic
markets and cost advantage in production. The object of the
application of the resource leveraging strategy is to raise the
technological capabilities within rms, so that they approach the
technological frontier, in a process described by Kim (1997) as
moving from imitation to innovation. As discussed above, this is
evident in the case of PMDD technology as introduced by
Goldwind, based on its joint venture with Vensys (Sun & Yang,
2013). In these ways it can be seen that the LLL framework provides
insight into the resource leverage strategies of these Chinese wind
turbine manufacturing companies, operating in catch-up mode.
The LLL framework was designed not to displace but to
complement existing microeconomics-based frameworks like OLI.
The eclectic OLI account of the reasons for existence of MNEs and
their potential advantages are timeless in the dual sense that
they are durable and ever-lasting, because so fundamental, but at
the same time in the sense that they do not have time as one of their
variables. Their insights endure in offering an explanation as to
why rms might wish to internationalize and deploy their assets
across borders. But they do not bring time into their consideration,
and thus have no means of distinguishing between normal and
accelerated internationalization. It is this time-based feature of
latecomer internationalization that LLL strategic reasoning is
designed to address. It is in fact addressing a gap in IB frameworks
and provides an expedient means of plugging the gap, by
complementing existing IB frameworks. The LLL framework
identies the threefold process through which rms from
industrializing countries might effect leverage of critical resources
425
(e.g. skilled engineering staff, production equipment, patented
technologies) through linkage with existing players and utilizing
such links to leverage access to markets around the world. The
process can be repeated over and over again, with rms acquiring
greater effectiveness each time as they acquire more sophisticated
capabilities, i.e. through learning. We argue that this process is
clearly evident in the cases of the wind turbine industry in China.
It is certainly the case that those rms internationalizing
rapidly have a resemblance to aspects of born global rms.
However, there are several important discrepancies. The literature
on born global rms normally assumes that resources needed to
support accelerated expansion are available locally, or within
contractual reach of the rm, and that it has no need to seek
economies of scale as it expands since it is possible to outsource
almost all aspects of running a business. The born global typical
cases therefore tend to characterize rms as minimal structures
based only on core competences; they are nimble, small players.
But this does not t the latecomer Chinese cases such as Goldwind
and Sinovel that follow a quite specic strategy of not reducing
themselves to core competences, but instead expand to incorpo-
rate as many operations along their value chain as they can, in a
strategy of vertical integration. The interesting thing about these
Chinese green sector rms in general is that they look like giant
versions of born global rms, with all the nimbleness displayed by
smaller varieties but the strength and mass production power of
the larger. However, by distinguishing between the AI and born
globals and by introducing the LLL framework to account for AI of
Chinese green sector rms, we take one step further in the current
discussion on internationalization of EM-MNCs (Bonaglia et al.,
2007; Hoskisson, Wright, Filatotchev, & Peng, 2013; Mathews,
2006a; Peng, 2012) both conceptually and in terms of the eld of
application.
We recognize that there could be a dark side of accelerated
internationalization. Chetty et al. (2014, p. 1) remarked that rapid
international growth that occurs suddenly can be destabilizing for
SMEs as their resources are stretched and their conguration of
capabilities are challenged. That certainly could be the case for
acceleration of internationalization where rapid expansion into the
international market may be pursued not because of strategizing
by the company but on account of misjudgement and/or self-
interest of managers, and thus may result in negative conse-
quences for the company in the long run. As revealed in the Chinese
solar PV industry, for example, some companies had to scale back
their internationalization in the recent year; or in other words,
they have been engaged into accelerated de-internationalization.
The production of Chinese solar PV companies has been
predominantly driven by global market demand since the
inception of the industry. That was in turn a result of government
25000 100%
95%
20000
90%
15000
MW
85%
10000
80%
5000
75%
0 70%
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Domesc installaon Exports Exports/Producon
Fig. 9. Accelerated de-internationalization of the Chinese solar PV industry.
Source of primary data: Chinas New and Renewable Energy Yearbook and the
Ministry of Commerce, China.
426 H. Tan, J.A. Mathews / Journal of World Business 50 (2015) 417427
policies in Europe and the US such as the 2004 Renewable Energy
Law in Germany that were designed to expand the market and
promote utilization of renewable energy sources. However, the
international sales of Chinese solar PV companies dropped
drastically during the past two years largely due to the
antidumping and anti-subsidy actions taken by the US and EU
(Sun, Zhi, Wang, Yao, & Su, 2014). The ratio of exports to the total
shipments in the Chinese solar PV industry in terms of solar PV
capacity (MW) has decreased from over 98% in 2007 to about 80%
in 2012 (CRES, 2012) (Fig. 9). The performance implications of
accelerated internationalization and de-internationalization, how-
ever, are beyond the scope of the current paper (but to be pursued
in a follow-up paper).
5. Concluding remarks
In conclusion, we propose in this paper that the eld of IB view a
pattern of accelerated internationalization as a distinctive pattern
through which not just SMEs from advanced countries become
players in the global economy. We propose that the pattern of AI
can be dened and described in a similar fashion that is employed
to measure acceleration in physics. We propose that this pattern
may also be viewed as distinctive in the case of EM-MNEs,
particularly those emerging in the important new elds of
renewable energy industries. We see a framework based on
strategic reasoning, where time plays an important role, as being
needed alongside the timeless frameworks such as OLI which
have been applied to the patterns of internationalization by EM-
MNEs. We have argued that such strategic reasoning is needed to
complement the microeconomic reasoning hitherto employed, and
have illustrated this need in accounting for the accelerated
internationalization of Chinese wind turbine manufacturers
discussed in this paper. The LLL framework (Mathews, 2006a)
that we utilize provides one such strategic framework, based as it is
on the resource leverage strategy identied by Hamel and Prahalad
(1993). Our paper builds on these strategic insights, by bringing
time-based reasoning to the fore in the strategizing by rms as
they internationalize in order to complement the timeless
frames of reasoning such as OLI. We bring the focus on the
acceleration of internationalization as a strategy through which
EM-MNEs can quickly become players in the world business
system, thereby explaining an otherwise inexplicable phenome-
non, and contributing to the framing of one of the big questions of
IB (Peng, 2004).
References
Abrami, R. M., & Koch-Weser, J. (2012). Goldwind USA: Chinese wind in the Americas.
Harvard Business School Case 9-912-416.
Autio, E., Sapienza, H. J., & Almeida, J. G. (2000). Effects of age at entry, knowledge
intensity, and imitability on international growth. Academy of Management Journal,
43(5): 909924.
Awate, S., Larsen, M. M., & Mudambi, R. (2012). EMNE catch-up strategies in the wind
turbine industry: Is there a trade-off between output and innovation capabilities?
Global Strategy Journal, 2: 205223.
Bonaglia, F., Goldstein, A., & Mathews, J. A. (2007). Accelerated internationalization by
emerging multinationals: The case of the white goods sector. Journal of World
Business, 42: 369383.
Casillas, J. C., & Acedo, F. J. (2013). Speed in the internationalization process of the rm.
International Journal of Management Review, 15(1): 1529.
Casillas, J. C., & Moreno-Menendez, A. M. (2014). Speed of the internationalization
process: The role of diversity and depth in experiential learning. Journal of
International Business Studies, 45: 85101.
Chetty, S., Johanson, M., & Martn, O. M. (2014). Speed of internationalization:
Conceptualization, measurement and validation. Journal of World Business.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2013.12.014
Chen, S., & Tan, H. (2012). Region effects in the internationalizationperformance
relationship in Chinese rms. Journal of World Business, 47(1): 7380.
CRES (2012). Chinas new energy and renewable energy yearbook 2012. Guangzhou:
China Renewable Energy Society.
CWEA (2013). China wind power statistics 2012. Beijing: Chinese Wind Energy
Association.
Cuervo-Cazurra, A. (2012). Extending theory by analyzing developing country multi-
national companies: Solving the Goldilocks debate. Global Strategy Journal, 2:
153167.
Dai, Y., & Xue, L. (2014). Chinas policy initiatives for the development of wind energy
technology. Climate Policy. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2014.863549
Deng, P. (2012). Accelerated internationalization by MNCs from emerging economies:
Determinants and implications. Organizational Dynamics, 41: 318326.
Dunning, J. H. (1981). The eclectic theory of the MNC. London: Allen & Unwin.
ERI (2011). Energy Technology Roadmap: Roadmap to 2050 for the wind power develop-
ment in China. Beijing: Energy Research Institute, China and International Energy
Agency.
Gao, G. Y., & Pan, Y. (2010). The pace of MNEs sequential entries: Cumulative entry
experience and the dynamic process. Journal of International Business Studies, 41(9):
15721580.
Hamel, G., & Prahalad, C. K. (1993 MarchApril). Strategy as stretch and leverage.
Harvard Business Review, 7584.
Hennart, J.-F. (2012). Emerging market multinationals and the theory of the multina-
tional enterprise. Global Strategy Journal, 2: 168187.
Hitt, M. A., Tihanyi, L., Miller, T., & Connelly, B. (2006). International diversica-
tion: Antecedents, outcomes, and moderators. Journal of Management, 32(6):
831867.
Hoskisson, R. E., Wright, M., Filatotchev, I., & Peng, W. M. (2013). Emerging multi-
nationals from mid-range economies: The inuence of institutions and factor
markets. Journal of Management Studies, 50(7): 12951321.
Johanson, J., & Vahlne, J. E. (1977). The internationalisation process of the rm: A model
of knowledge development and increasing foreign market commitments. Journal of
International Business Studies, 8(1): 2332.
Jones, M., & Coviello, N. E. (2005). Internationalisation: Conceptualising an entrepre-
neurial process of behaviour in time. Journal of International Business Studies, 36:
284303.
Kim, L. S. (1997). Imitation to innovation. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.
Lewis, J. I. (2007). Technology acquisition and innovation in the developing world:
Wind turbine development in China and India. Studies in Comparative International
Development, 42(3/4): 208232.
Lewis, J. I. (2011). Building a national wind turbine industry: Experiences from China,
India and South Korea. International Journal of Technology and Globalisation, 5(3):
281305.
Lewis, J. I. (2012). Green innovation in China: Chinas wind power industry and the global
transition to a low-carbon economy. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Mathews, J. A. (2002). Dragon multinationals: A new model of global growth. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Mathews, J. A. (2006a). Dragon multinationals: New players in 21st century globaliza-
tion. Asia Pacic Journal of Management, 23: 527.
Mathews, J. A. (2006b). Response to Dunning and Narula. Asia Pacic Journal of
Management, 23: 153155.
Morgan-Thomas, A., & Jones, M. V. (2009). Post-entry internationalisation dynamics:
Differences between SMEs in the development speed of their international sales.
International Small Business Journal, 27: 7197.
Musteen, M., Francis, J., & Datta, D. K. (2010). The inuence of international networks
on internationalization speed and performance: A study of Czech SMEs. Journal of
World Business, 45(3): 197205.
Oviatt, B. M., & McDougall, P. P. (1995). Global start-ups: Entrepreneurs on a worldwide
stage. Academy of Management Executive, 9(2): 3044.
Oviatt, B. M., & McDougall, P. P. (1997). Challenges for internationalization process
theory: The case of international new ventures. Management International Review,
37: 8599.
Peng, M. (2004). Identifying the big question in international business research. Journal
of International Business Studies, 35: 99108.
Peng, M. W. (2009). Global strategy (2nd ed.). South-Western CENGAGE Learning.
Peng, M. W. (2012). The global strategy of emerging multinationals from China. Global
Strategy Journal, 2(2): 97107.
Peng, M. W., Wang, D. Y. L., & Jiang, Y. (2008). An institution-based view of international
business strategy: A focus on emerging economies. Journal of International Business
Studies, 39: 920936.
Pla-Barber, J., & Escriba-Esteve, A. (2006). Accelerated internationalisation: Evidence
from a late investor country. International Marketing Review, 23(3): 255278.
Pinkse, J., & Kolk, A. (2012). Multinational enterprises and climate change: Exploring
institutional failures and embeddedness. Journal of International Business Studies,
43: 332341.
Porter, M. E. (1980). Competitive strategy. New York: Free Press.
Prashantham, S., & Young, S. (2011). Post-entry speed of international new ventures.
Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35: 275292.
REN21 (2012). Renewables 2012 global status report. Paris: Renewable Energy Policy
Network for the 21st Century Available at www.ren21.net
Rialp, A., Rialp, J., & Knight, G. (2005). The phenomenon of early internationalizing
rms: What do we know after a decade (19932003) of scientic inquiry?
International Business Review, 14: 147166.
Shrader, R. C., Oviatt, B. M., & McDougall, P. P. (2000). How new ventures exploit trade-
offs among international risk factors: Lessons for the accelerated internationaliza-
tion of the 21st century. Academy of Management Journal, 43(6): 12271247.
Sun, H., Zhi, Q., Wang, Y., Yao, Q., & Su, J. (2014). Chinas solar photovoltaic industry
development: The status quo, problems and approaches. Applied Energy, 118:
221230.
Sun, S. L., Peng, M. W., Ren, B., & Yan, D. (2012). A comparative ownership advantage
framework for cross-border M&As: The rise of Chinese and Indian MNEs. Journal of
World Business, 47(1): 416.
 H. Tan, J.A. Mathews / Journal of World Business 50 (2015) 417427
Sun, S. L., & Yang, X. (2013). The rise of Chinese wind turbine manufacturers. In P. P. Li
(Ed.), Disruptive innovations from China and India: The strategic implications for local
challengers and global incumbents. London: Routledge.
Weerawardena, J., Mort, G. S., Leisch, P. W., & Knight, G. (2007). Conceptualizing
accelerated internationalization in the born global rm: A dynamic capabilities
perspective. Journal of World Business, 42: 294306.
Wernerfelt, B. (1984). A resource-based view of the rm. Strategic Management Journal,
5(2): 171180.
Yamakawa, Y., Khavul, S., Peng, M. W., & Deeds, D. L. (2013). Venturing from emerging
economies. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 7(3): 181196.
427
Yang, M., & Pan, R. (2011). Chinas wind power industry: From infant stage to growth
stage. In M. Yang & R. Pan (Eds.), Chinas industrial development in the 21st century.
Singapore: World Scientic.
Yeoh, P.-L. (2010). Location choice and the internationalization sequence. International
Marketing Review, 28(3): 291312.
Yiu, D. W. (2011). Multinational advantages of Chinese business groups: A theoretical
exploration. Management and Organization Review, 7(2): 249277.
Zhang, X., Wang, R., Huo, M., & Martinot, E. (2010). A study of the role played by
renewable energies in Chinas sustainable energy supply. Energy, 35: 4392
4399.