Assessment of factors of international investment activity of TNCs in the conditions of digitalization

Abstract

The aim of the article is to improve the methodological approach to the multifactor assessment of the international investment activity of TNCs under conditions of digitalization and to perform a typology of TNCs based on cluster analysis, which will make it possible to deepen the understanding of TNC development priorities in the digital environment. This objective was achieved through the comprehensive integration of financial, technological, institutional, and ESG-oriented indicators, adjusted according to measurement scales and normalized, while the typology of TNCs was conducted using cluster analysis, enabling the identification of strategic profiles of their investment-digital transformation.

Scientific novelty: the conducted cluster analysis made it possible to classify 20 leading TNCs according to integrated indicators of digital and investment activity and to identify four clusters: the “digital core” with maximum technological integration; “digital engineers” with a specialized innovation profile; “regional TNCs” oriented toward telecommunications markets; and the “digital periphery” – companies with predominantly traditional business models. These clusters exhibit internally consistent characteristics and a specific configuration of factor dominants that reflect the depth of technological integration, the level of innovation activity, the degree of institutional openness, and financial strength.

Practical significance: the aggregation of factor weights within clusters allowed the identification of systemic differences in the digital-investment strategies of transnational corporations, shaped by their sectoral, geographical, and institutional specificities. As a result, it has been demonstrated that multidimensional assessment based on cluster analysis is an effective tool for identifying typological differences, strategic priorities, and latent archetypes of digital investment activity of TNCs under global instability and digital competition.

Conclusions: the research enabled the formation of a generalized typology of strategic models of digital transformation, which ensures deeper interpretation of the structure of variation within the set of indicators and substantiates the need for an expanded factor analysis of international investment activity of TNCs in the digitalization context.