Introduction: The Strategy and Organization of International Business

Abstract

International Business has come a long way as a subject since the ‘founding fathers’ of the late 1950s and 1960s began to lay a theoretical foundation for the subject (Dunning, 1958; Hymer, 1976, written 1960; Vernon, 1966; Aharoni, 1966). There have been significant developments both in theoretical work (Buckley and Casson, 1976; Dunning, 1993b, for instance), extensive empirical advancement notably in the area of internationalization (Johanson and Weidersheim-Paul, 1975; Johanson and Vahlne, 1977), better basic data (notably the immense contributions of the UNCTAD Division on Transnationals) and several excellent company studies (Wilkins and Hill, 1964). Work on policy towards multinationals, at both global, regional, nation and local levels has led to a much better understanding of government-multinational relations (Hood and Young, 1983; Hood and Trujens, 1993). Interdisciplinary approaches to the subject have led to a great enrichment of our understanding (Buckley and Chapman, 1996a; Gilpin, 1975; Ghoshal and Westney, 1993; Krugman, 1990). Perhaps one area of disappointment has been the unsatisfactory integration between international business and business strategy research.