Overseas research and development activities of Korean ICT enterprises in emerging countries

With the globalisation of the world’s economies and the increasing role of multinational corporations in the generation of knowledge, global research and development (R&D) activities in emerging countries are following a new trend. This paper describes case studies of two large companies and discussion of the motives (demand vs. supply) and tasks (demand-driven vs. supply-driven) of R&D activities outside their home country. This work is based on an analysis of four overseas R&D units of two Korean ICT companies – here, ICT refers to goods and services in the information technology and communication technology fields – in India and China. The research findings are as follows: (1) The overseas R&D activities of Korean ICT enterprises in emerging countries may be driven by a combination of demand and supply factors of host countries; and (2) Korean overseas R&D centres in emerging countries may need to carry out both demand- and supply-driven tasks in view of the overlap between demand and supply factors of the host countries. Based on the results of this research, the following policy implications can be drawn for encouraging more effective overseas R&D activities of Korean enterprises in emerging countries. First, the government needs to expand the support systems so that enterprises can manage local R&D centres more effectively and actively use the variety of local support systems and useful information. Second, the government needs to expand the support systems so that the overseas R&D centres of Korean enterprises revitalise collaborations with locally excellent universities and research institutions.