Behavior of Japanese, Western, and Asian MNCs in Thailand: Lessons for Japanese MNCs

The paper examines the business strategy and behavior of multinational corporations (MNCs) from Japan, Asia, the US and Europe with a focus on Thailand, and with an emphasis on their relationship with local economies (firms) by using mainly the results from the questionnaire survey and interviews. The paper found that while differences do exist between MNCs of different nationalities in Thailand, the differences are often not highly significant. It is likely that more significant differences do exist between MNCs and local Thai firms. The results from the analysis indicate the need for Japanese MNCs to develop and expand the relationships with local economies in the areas of procurement, staff recruitment, technology activities, R&D and innovation, and information collection, in order to improve their business performance.