It is claimed that participation and innovation in emerging economies will set the competitiveness agenda for MNCs in the future. There is currently a need for more knowledge on the peculiarities of innovating in these markets, including the even more profound need for interaction and relationship building between actors from different sectors in society. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to reach a better understanding of the impact of the interaction between various actors, both business and socio-political, for the innovative performance of MNCs in emerging markets. We apply a business network view of innovation including business relationships in general and relationships to civil society actors in particular, using the relational concepts of trust, knowledge and cultural compatibility to analyse the process at hand. A case study was conducted of the MNC-led project 'Amazon Connection', which enabled connectivity in the distant Amazonian region of Para, Brazil.

The aim of this study is to understand what factors influence companies to customise products international customers and markets. A qualitative case study with semi-structured interviews was conducted at one multinational corporation to gain insights into its product customisation strategy. The findings demonstrate how internationalisation can impact product customisation and identify four factors in the customisation process: culture, internationalisation, knowledge transfer, and product strategy. Tailored marketing strategies that influenced the international product customisation strategy (IPCS) were used. This study augmented on our understanding of how product customisation impacts internationalisation and vice versa, revealing the importance of knowledge transfer in IPCS and its growing impact due to digitalisation. It also shows how both B2B marketing and a tailored marketing strategy are overarching themes in international product customisation, making it one of few studies to recognise the relevance of omnichannel strategy in the B2B market segment.