The evolution of R&D capability in multinational corporations in emerging markets: evidence from China

This paper presents a longitudinal case of Motorola’s R&D subsidiary in Beijing over the period 1998–2008. Through the construction of key events and changes, the paper unfolds the evolutionary process of Motorola’s R&D capability in China, and explores the mechanisms driving that evolution. We find that this R&D subsidiary evolved through four stages: from a local adaption unit performing adaptive, peripheral tasks for the local market; to a local development unit, undertaking independent product development tasks for the local market; to a global R&D centre, being a module of global projects for the global market; and finally, to a global integration centre, playing a leading and centrally-coordinating role in global projects for the global market. A balance between exploitation and exploration was achieved through temporal and domain separations, which, in turn, drove the development of the dynamics of component competences and architectural competences in the evolution.