Abstract
The concept of blue economy has been advanced by many countries as a new economic frontier aimed at development and utilization of blue ocean resources. To effectively develop a blue economy, capital intensive infrastructure, human and intellectual resources are required although they have been found to vary between countries or regions due economic or natural endowments. A theoretical analysis of relevant theories including: Foreign Direct Investment and eclectic model, Transaction Cost, and Stakeholder theories was undertaken. Further, a critical conceptual analysis covering fifty-five articles on blue economy and collaborative strategies with multinational enterprises (MNEs) was conducted to in an attempt to develop appreciation of the blue economy and collaborative strategies with MNEs. The conceptual analysis was carried out under conceptual, contextual, theoretical, and methodological lenses to establish if any gaps exist and if they do, how they can be addressed. From the analysis it was established that 24 of the 55 articles reviewed discussed maritime and blue economy related subjects. The other 31 articles covered subjects related to collaborative strategies with respect to MNEs confirming that the concept is still developing. The analysis concluded that the concept of blue economy adopts a multi-dimensional approach borrowing from strategic management, finance, and economics. Moreover, it was concluded that collaborative strategies could contribute to development of countries through leveraging of blue economy resources. Further research was proposed to address the gaps identified from the synthesis of the paper.
Keywords
blue ocean resources, leveraging, foreign direct investment, transaction cost, joint ventures, stakeholder influence
Chinese Abstract
蓝色经济和协作策略：跨国企业的批判性分析
许多国家提出了蓝色经济概念这一全新的经济前沿题材，旨在开发和利用蓝色海洋资源。蓝色经济的有效发展需要具备资本密集型基础设施、人力和智力资源，尽管由于经济或自然禀赋，这些资源在不同国家或地区之间存在差异。本文进行了相关理论的理论分析，包括外国直接投资和折衷模型、交易成本、以及利益相关者理论。此外，本文对55篇关于蓝色经济和跨国企业合作策略的文章进行了批判性概念分析，以试图深入了解蓝色经济和跨国企业合作策略。概念分析从概念、背景、理论和方法论角度以确定是否存在差距，并思考解决方案。分析发现55篇文章中有24篇讨论了海事和蓝色经济相关主题，另外31篇涉及与跨国企业合作策略相关的主题，证实该概念仍在发展中。分析得出，蓝色经济采概念采用了多维度的方法，并借鉴了战略管理、金融和经济学。此外，本文得出结论，协作策略可以通过利用蓝色经济资源促进国家发展，亦指明了未来的研究方向，以解决本文综合分析所发现的差距。
蓝色海洋资源、利用、外国直接投资、交易成本、合资企业、利益相关者影响
ORCID Identifiers
Josephine Mabuti Nthia: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4105-8375
DOI
10.5038/2640-6489.6.1.1146
Recommended Citation
Nthia, J. M. (2021). Blue Economy and collaborative strategies: A critique of multi-national enterprises. Journal of Global Business Insights, 6(1), 40-54. https://www.doi.org/10.5038/2640-6489.6.1.1146
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
