Mexican Multinationals: An Overview

MultiMexicans have increased their participation in foreign markets in recent decades. International changes and new conditions have motivated this growth. Among these conditions can be listed the market’s liberalization, relaxation of rules, and the expansion of the global economy. Despite the growing trends, in academic terms, there is an important omission.
This book tries to bridge this gap in understanding how MultiMexicans have been expanding to foreign markets. Moreover, the following chapters reveal what other enterprises can learn from them in eventually expanding their productive activities abroad. Nevertheless, to accurately comprehend what is going on regarding MultiMexicans and how these firms are reaching foreign markets, it is necessary to examine domestic historical conditions and be aware of the characteristics of the firms under scrutiny.
This introductory chapter considers such matters. It examines the nature of the growth process of the Mexican economy since the Porfiriato era to recent years. During this time the Mexican economy has experienced all kind of situations, ranging from natural disasters, social, economic, and political problems to periods of growth, wealth, stability, and well-being.
The characteristics under examination at national and firm levels include domestic development and its relationship with the internationalization of domestic enterprises and the national policy addressed to support and promote the internationalization of national enterprises. At the firm level, companies are performing as business groups, and most of the enterprises have a family-owned structure. One more characteristic is the geographic allocation paths and distri- bution that MultiMexicans are following.
In general, this is the scenario depicted by Mexico and its multi- national enterprises. It can give a general idea about the internationa- lization of Mexican enterprises and will help us to understand the particular processes and paths that different enterprises have followed in their internationalization, as studied in the following chapters.