Previous research has been relatively
insensitive to the potential combined effects that the shared industry background
and country of origin might play in the development of MNCs. This
is although there are various external constituents that pose
distinctive demands especially on such groups of MNCs. The 15-year period of
internationalization of three major Finnish paper companies
examined in this study represents MNC development as a collective endeavor in
which individual companies are especially influenced both by each
other and by their joint external constituents. These influences materialize
in analogous timing and patterns of internationalization across
individual companies. In its entirety, the study thus suggests that the
development of MNCs which operate in the same line of industry and
originate from the same country can be considered an outcome of a mutual
process that involves interaction both with each other and their shared
external constituents. This also means that MNCs then are not only
competitors, but simultaneously also a source of mutual support in their
ever-continuing evolution.