The Renaissance of State‐Owned Multinationals

State‐owned multinational enterprises ( SMNEs ) have significant levels of state ownership and value‐adding activities outside their home countries. SMNEs are undergoing a renaissance, highlighted by their numbers in the global economy and their heightened importance; as a result, they are gaining new attention in the academic literature and in the popular press. This work discusses the reasons for this renaissance and examines the challenges involved in managing SMNEs . SMNEs represent a hybrid organizational form with the dual characteristics of both the state‐owned enterprise ( SOE ) and the multinational enterprise ( MNE ). When compared with private MNEs , SMNEs are generally less profit oriented and have a more complex corporate governance structure. They have less autonomy to establish their strategies, but also experience a lower level of uncertainty in their external environment. As a result, SMNEs have more difficulty than private MNEs in developing strategies and making organizational changes. Our study concludes with recommendations to managers for improving SMNE performance. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.