Research on the Path of Reverse Innovation: A Case Study of High-tech Industry Latecomer Firms in China

With the economic slowdown in developed countries and the rise of emerging economies, reverse innovation from developing countries has had a profound impact on the global changes of multinational companies. As a global innovation diffusion model, it plays a vital role in the late stage of company innovation catch-up. Reverse innovation is about to become an important means to international competition, so exploring how to effectively carry out and implement reverse innovation is of great guiding value to the management practice of multinational companies. First of all, this article reviews the relevant literature on reverse innovation and introduces the research status of this topic. Based on this, through a vertical case study of three representative companies in China's high-tech industry (Huawei, Galanz and Mindray), the article explores the innovation and development process of their products from three stages of imitation innovation, independent innovation and leading technology, and summarizes the three companies in reverse innovation success path. Finally, according to the successful experience of the case, the article puts forward suggestions to promote the development of high-tech enterprises from three aspects of expanding emerging markets, improving independent innovation ability and actively using policy resources, providing reference and inspiration for enterprises to improve innovation ability and accelerate internationalization process.