Study looks at how emerging market multinationals achieve digital maturity
Digital transformation has become essential for the competitiveness of companies in the modern era. While born-digital multinationals lead the charge, emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) face unique challenges when integrating digital technologies into their operations. Therefore, this study explores how these companies seek digital maturity to compete globally by leveraging their subsidiaries and adapting to a dynamic digital environment.
The research was conducted by Maria Tereza Leme Fleury (FGV EAESP) and collaborators, including Afonso Fleury (Poli/USP), Luis Oliveira and Pablo Leão. Published in the journal International Business Review, the study used data from 91 Brazilian multinationals and employed structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the adapted digital maturity model originally proposed by the German National Academy of Sciences and Engineering (ACATECH).
The study presents Digital Maturity Capability (DMC) as a set of critical organizational competencies. These include the strategic use of technology, data management, team empowerment, organizational design, and fostering a digital culture. These five dimensions underpin the dynamic capabilities of perception, harnessing, and transformation in emerging market multinationals.
The study highlights that foreign subsidiaries are key to transferring local knowledge and promoting innovations. They act as bridges between the parent company and market ecosystems, helping the company adopt digitally enabled decisions and integrate into global value chains.
Therefore, digital maturity in emerging market multinationals depends on interconnected factors: digital technical capacity (DTC), essential for integrating technologies into operational processes; efficient data management, which transforms information into strategic decisions; and the development of digital skills in the workforce.
In addition, agile organizational design and fostering a digital culture accelerate innovation. Foreign subsidiaries, on the other hand, act as knowledge hubs that influence the headquarters. Companies that invest in these areas increase their global competitiveness, with more efficient processes, integration into value chains, and greater strategic agility.
The findings of this survey offer guidance for MNE managers seeking to implement digital transformations. The adaptation of the ACATECH model to include critical dimensions such as people management and digital culture reinforces the applicability of the study in diverse organizational contexts. In summary, the pursuit of digital maturity is essential for emerging market multinationals to remain competitive in the digital age. This allows you to maximize synergy between your global and local operations.
