Asymmetries in Firm-Level Globalization: The Case of Swiss Multinational Enterprises

Abstract This paper addresses the regional and global strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs), with an application to the largest Swiss companies. We extend Rugman and Verbeke’s (2004) classic approach to measure MNE globalization by adopting a multidimensional lens, whereby we focus on four distinct parameters that evaluate respectively: market success across geographic space (proxied by sales); investments as a response to foreign business opportunities (proxied by assets); human capital (as proxied by the employees’ geographic distribution); and knowledge capital (as measured by patented innovations). We observe substantial discrepancies in globalization levels according to the parameter used. According to this study, the largest segment of companies (42.1%) remains home-regional in terms of sales. Bi-regional firms constitute the second largest category, comprising 28.9% of the sample. Only 21.1% of the companies can be classified as global in terms of sales distribution. Upstream activities such as knowledge capital seem to be more home-region oriented than downstream activities. One critical conclusion of this study is that not a single large Swiss MNE can be considered global in terms of knowledge capital creation.