Gearing strategic public enterprises for internationalisation: the Indian case

Abstract

In the context of chronic balance of payments problems in most Third World countries, public enterprises (PEs) of the Third World are a major under-utilised source for stepping up exports. In many Third World countries PEs produce an impressive array of goods and services. But their domestic orientation tends to shackle them to domestic rather than global levels of efficiency, enterprise, and customer response. With the help of a successful Indian case of internationalization, and questionnaire date gathered from 119 senior and top level PEs of nearly 50 Indian PEs, it is argues that Third World PEs can be internationalized provided they adopt certain kinds of goals, policies, and practices. Internationalization would result not only in increased foreign exchange earnings, it would also raise the domestic level of efficiency and entrepreneurship of PEs. Several suggestions are made for enabling Indian PEs to get more internationalized.