Lifting the veil of competitive awareness of multinationals

Although often surrounded by mystery, competitive awareness is crucial for superior performance. We theorize that competitive awareness differs between multinational enterprises from China (CMNE) and those from the United States (USMNE). Specifically, we propose that competitive awareness is influenced by two factors: (1) information available to a focal multinational and (2) information available to its rival. Both factors can vary with a multinational’s home country and the markets in which it competes. We map the two factors into four areas of competitive awareness, each representing distinguishable challenges to a multinational’s ability to accurately perceive the competition. Leveraging an illustrative example of the Alibaba–Amazon rivalry, we portray how the four areas interact with different competitive landscapes where the CMNE and the USMNE compete, including their home countries and other emerging and developed economies. Overall, our framework lifts the veil of competitive awareness of the CMNE vs. the USMNE in different country contexts, contributing to competitive dynamics research.