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This paper analyzes the strategies by which Huawei, one of China's few privately-owned multinational firms, responded to various windows of opportunity as technology, policy and demand changed during the evolution of the telecommunication industry between the late 1980s and 2014. Based on a historical longitudinal analysis, our in-depth case study unfolds the dynamic process by which Huawei utilized dual technology-building and market-seeking strategies to capitalize on those windows of opportunity and to achieve sustained catch-up, not only in technological capability but also in the global market. By linking strategy at the firm level to external conditions at the sector level, this paper contributes to theory on how latecomers develop firm-specific advantages and enriches our understanding of how they develop dynamic competitive advantage to achieve sustained catch-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests the prescience of John Mathews' linkage-leverage-learning (LLL) model to explain internationalization by latecomer firms (LFs)-set in an evolutionary backdrop. The hypothesis harbored in this study is that while LLL explains how LFs initially compete in international markets, it is autonomous learning, independent of LLL that is crucial to internationalization. We used panel data from 1994 to 2012 with 821 observations from 69 firms and performed multiple econometric analyses to test our hypotheses. Our results suggest that autonomous learning rather than resource leverage and learning through linkages with MNCs explain the success of Indian pharmaceutical LFs. LFs progress from being a recipient of knowledge in a global production network to a phase where they can become important contributors in the global innovation network. This study therefore demonstrates that LFs that invest in autonomous learning in addition to reaping advantages through their linkages with global innovators are the ones that are successful in their internationalization process and are able to become dominant players in the global market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]