Corporate Product Policy and Innovative Behavior of European and Japanese Multinationals: An Empirical Investigation

Abstract

The author empirically examines the product policies of European and Japanese multinational firms in relation to product and process innovations. He also investigates linkages between corporate product policy and manufacturing strategy and their implications for product and process innovations in an era of global competition. These foreign multinational firms, in particular the Japanese firms, increasingly stress the simultaneous strategic importance of product and process innovations. Findings indicate that Levitt's argument for the development of a globally acceptable product has gained momentum among European and Japanese multinational firms that lead in product and process innovations. In a marketing context, it has become important for them to expand commonalities across national boundaries rather than focusing on customer differences based on nationalities. European and Japanese multinationals increasingly shape global competition and the findings afford managerial insights into their current product strategies.