Diaspora Networks

This chapter examines the internationalization strategies taken by business groups to understand how business groups act as “makers of global business.” It explains the case of the Koc group, the largest and one of the most internationalized Turkish business groups, with operations in automotive, consumer electronics, energy and petrochemicals, banking and insurance, tourism, and information technology. The chapter proposes how the affiliation of a company with a business group provides it with not only benefits, but also constraints on its internationalization. It provides a brief overview of the literature on the internationalization of business groups in historical context to present a broad picture of the topic. Business groups are a collection of legally independent firms operating in unrelated product markets and connected via equity and other formal and informal ties. The affiliation with the business group helps individual operating companies internationalize in several ways.