Growth and survival

This book has examined the evolution of the world's largest multinationals in alcoholic beverages from 1960 until the beginning of the twenty-first century. In identifying the importance of multinationality in the growth and survival of firms, the work ultimately became a study of brands, marketing knowledge, and distribution. During the period discussed, the alcoholic beverages industry underwent several major changes. In particular, there was a profound concentration, with multiple mergers and acquisitions among leading multinational firms. As a result, many leading firms disappeared while others became even bigger. Simultaneously, there was rapid internationalization as firms became increasingly global in their strategies. There was also significant diversification as firms invested not only into related but also into unrelated businesses. Nonetheless, by the beginning of the twenty-first century, multinationals had begun to refocus on their core alcoholic beverages businesses.

Despite the similarities in the patterns of growth and survival followed by firms in this industry, there were some significant differences in terms of when these changes took place, depending on whether the firms were involved principally in beer, spirits, or wines. Concentration and internationalization were more pronounced in beer and spirits firms. In addition, beer and spirits firms were able to grow larger earlier than wine firms and encountered more adverse conditions related to the globalization of the industry in the 1980s, having to create new, firm-specific capabilities to grow and survive.