The Internationalization of Corporate R&D

More documents

Recommendations

Info

THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF CORPORATE R&DMultinational companies from all major, industrial countries have significant andgrowing operations in the engineering sector. These activities tend to focus on productionfor local and international markets, while R&D is often limited to adaptation to thelocal market. There are, however, examples of companies undertaking more substantiveR&D and design activities in India to serve both local and international markets.Some of the world’s leading companies with major manufacturing operations in Indiainclude: ABB, General Motors, General Electric, Ford, Caterpillar, Toyota, Sony,Honda, LG, Hyundai, Siemens, Philips, Daimler Chrysler, Fiat and Lafarge-Europe.Swedish-related Engineering CompaniesExamples of Swedish-related companies with Indian-based operations covering sales,production as well as R&D include: ABB, Atlas Copco, Electrolux, Sandvik, SKF andVolvo. ABB India had 8 manufacturing units, 26 marketing offices, 8 service centersand 3 training centers as of 2005 (Domain-b.com 2006). In addition to these, the companyhas a channel partner network numbering approximately 500 to facilitate marketpenetration for its standard products and services business. ABB constitutes an exampleof a company in which many persons of Indian origin have held top managementand technical expert positions in India as well as Sweden and other locations. Thesepersons have often received education in Sweden.ABB had nine corporate centers, one each in Finland, Germany, Poland, Norway, Sweden,Switzerland, the U.S., India and China as of 2005. The company’s first R&D center in Asiawas established in Bangalore in 2002 and focuses on the development of software-intensiveproducts and systems (Singh, M. 2005). In September 2005, ABB announced plans to shifthigh-end engineering R&D from high-cost centers, such as from Germany and Sweden, toIndia. These centers focus on power technologies and automation. According to the plans,ABB will nearly double the number of engineers at its R&D center in Bangalore. ABB’stotal number of R&D employees will reach about 500 in 2006, and is expected to increasesignificantly in coming years (Global Outsourcing 2005).SKF opened its Application Development Centre (ADC) in Bangalore in 2004. Companyofficials have said the new facility will become a full-fledged R&D center for thecompany over the coming years. Initially, ADC will focus on developing competenciesin application engineering, product and system design, advanced calculation and simulation,and manufacturing of prototypes, testing and validation (Domain-b.com 2004).Volvo Trucks India has expanded into sales and production operations. In 2006, thecompany inaugurated its engineering and software development center in Bangalore.Volvo has plans to employ more than 200 engineers to work primarily on truck designengineering. The center will also support Volvo Group activities in the areas of IT andtruck product development (Volvo Truck India 2006).290
THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF CORPORATE R&D11.5 Swedish-Indian Economic and R&D Relations11.5.1 Swedish-Indian Economic and S&T RelationsEconomic and technology relations between Sweden and India have graduallystrengthened, but lag other countries, like China and Japan. Trade and investment linksbetween Sweden and India are poised to expand substantially in the long-term. Thisalso applies to R&D activities by Swedish companies in India. In addition, Indian companies’operations in Sweden are poised to expand.Swedish exports of goods to India amounted to 935 million dollars in 2005 (0.7 percentof Sweden’s total exports) while imports stood at close to 395 billion dollars (0.4 percentof total imports) (Statistics Sweden 2006). According to data published by theCentral Bank of Sweden, Swedish FDI to India amounted to 57 million dollars from1994 to 1998, and 109 million dollars from 1999 to 2003. Swedish companies employedabout 7,200 people in India in 2003, per data compiled by the Swedish Institutefor Growth Policy Studies (ITPS). A broader definition including all Swedish-relatedcompanies, as well as outsourcing to Indian companies, results in a significantly largernumber. While no more comprehensive data is available, it is reasonable to assume thatthe total number employed in Swedish-related (broadly defined) corporate activities inIndia has grown significantly since the 1990s and reached about 20,000 in 2006.Swedish and Indian official data do not provide a complete picture of trade, investmentand employment, R&D and other forms of S&T collaboration. Typically, data on foreigntrade and investment and specific R&D developments are incomplete and underestimated(Mitra 2006a). In short, official data does not allow for accurate analysis ofeconomic relations and R&D ties between the two countries. Therefore, an analysis ofcorporate R&D relations must be supplemented by company-level case studies.The development of the ties between the two countries is reflected in a number of domains.The Swedish Trade Council has developed New Delhi operations and opened anoffice in Bangalore in 2006. The Sweden-India Business Council (SIBC) was establishedin 2003 as a result of initiatives by the Swedish government and the private sector.An agreement (MoU) was signed between the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. SIBC was entrusted with responsibilityfor development of opportunities and activities between the parties. SIBC cooperatesin Sweden with the Swedish Trade Council, the Import Council and ministriesamongst others (Swedish Trade Council 2006 and SIBC 2006).The Royal Academy of Science (IVA) and Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA) have begunto give more attention to India. The Swedish International Development CooperationAgency (SIDA) places major emphasis on S&T collaboration in the areas of environment,ICT and biotechnology, as per its India country strategy presented in 2005.291
Page 1:
A2006:007The Internationalizationof
Page 4:
ITPS, Swedish Institute For Growth
Page 7 and 8:
THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF CORPORA
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11:
Page 14 and 15:
Page 16 and 17:
Page 18 and 19:
Page 20 and 21:
Page 22 and 23:
Page 24 and 25:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
Page 161 and 162:
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165 and 166:
Page 167 and 168:
Page 169 and 170:
Page 171 and 172:
Page 173 and 174:
Page 175 and 176:
Page 177 and 178:
Page 179 and 180:
Page 181 and 182:
Page 183 and 184:
Page 185 and 186:
Page 187 and 188:
Page 189 and 190:
Page 191 and 192:
Page 193 and 194:
Page 195 and 196:
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
Page 201 and 202:
Page 203 and 204:
Page 205 and 206:
Page 207 and 208:
Page 209 and 210:
Page 211 and 212:
Page 213 and 214:
Page 215 and 216:
Page 217 and 218:
Page 219 and 220:
Page 221 and 222:
Page 223 and 224:
Page 225 and 226:
Page 227 and 228:
Page 229 and 230:
Page 231 and 232:
Page 233 and 234:
Page 235 and 236:
Page 237 and 238:
Page 239 and 240:
Page 241 and 242: THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF CORPORA
Page 291: THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF CORPORA
Page 327: The Swedish Institute for Growth Po
show all

The Internationalization of Corporate R&D

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?