Appraising the Determinants of Entry Mode Strategies of MNCs: A Case Study of Lenovo.

The entry modes of multinational corporations (MNCs) into foreign markets have been a major subject of discussion in international business literature. This is because the choice of entry mode interacts with the target country’s unique environments to influence financial performance (Parola, Satta, Persico, & Bella, 2013; Wind & Perlmutter, 1977; Root, 1987; Hill et al., 1990; Erramilli, 1992; Luo, 2001). Entry mode describes the methods that different MNCs adopt to enter prospective markets. The best entry mode is dependent on several considerations which include country specific variables (such as Ease of doing business) and firm level variables (such as entrepreneurial orientation, internationalization motivation, and absorptive capacity). In this session, we present a case study of Lenovo, a company with headquarters in Beijing, China, and North Carolina. Lenovo’s registered office is in Hong Kong, China and Lenovo operates in over 180 markets around the world. The company adopted different entry-mode strategies in different markets in which it operates. For example, Lenovo has manufacturing facilities in Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico, and the United States. Lenovo has sales offices in many countries with research centers in China, Germany, and Japan. Lenovo's manufacturing footprint includes company-owned facilities, joint ventures, and Original Device Manufacturers In this case study, we present students with pertinent information about Lenovo – Lenovo’s internationalization orientation, absorptive capacity, entrepreneurial orientation, and the ease of doing business of the various countries in which they are operating. We then invite students to appraise Lenovo’s entry mode strategies in these different markets and to suggest suitable entry modes for better operation and performance.