This thoroughly updated and revised edition of a widely acclaimed, classic text will be required reading for academics, policy makers and advanced students of international business worldwide. Employing a distinctive and unified framework, this book draws together research across a range of academic fields to offer a synthesis of the determinants of MNE activity, and its effects on the economic and social well-being of developed and developing countries. Unique to the new edition is its focus on the institutional underpinnings of the resources and capabilities of MNEs, and the role of MNE activity in transmitting and facilitating institutional change. Since the initial publication of this book more than a decade ago, the economic, managerial and social implications of globalisation and technological advancement have become even more varied and prominent. Accompanying these developments, there has been a rise in scholarly interest in interdisciplinary research addressing the important challenges of an ever-changing physical and human environment. Drawing on articles and books from international business and economics, as well as economic geography, political economy and strategic management, a systematic overview of the developments in scholarly thinking is presented, while also highlighting the emerging topical issues and methodologies.

This book focuses on current cutting-edge research concerning the increasing strategic importance of subsidiary networks to the multinational firm. It combines contributions from three major related areas of inquiry: the changing theoretical conception of networks and the structure of the multinational firm, the importance of spillovers and agglomeration economies related to multinational investments, and the management of the flow of information and knowledge from headquarters to subsidiaries and vice versa. The book approaches the network structure of the firm from the different perspectives of the expert international contributors, while also combining theoretical perspectives with recent empirical evidence. Network Knowledge in International Business offers students in international business and strategy a cross-section of relevant research and current empirical evidence relating to knowledge management and the management of the modern multinational.

The purpose of this book is to present leading research concerning the increasing strategic importance of environmental concerns within the multinational firm, and to explore the implications of corporate environmental strategy on public policy. The contributions present empirical research that deals with the simultaneous effects of the globalization of markets and the emergence of environmental concerns as issues of corporate strategy, either using a cross-national sample of firms within a global industry, or a sample of multinationals from a particular home country. By considering the dynamics of corporate environmental behavior explicitly within the context of global markets, the book makes a unique contribution to the discussion about the impact of multinational activity.
The chapters provide a rich understanding of the kinds of interactions that occur between multinationals and regulators, multinationals and non-governmental organizations, and multinationals and their customers. By explaining what motivates multinational firms to make environmental investments and to improve their environmental performance, these studies offer necessary input for the formulation of well-informed public policy.
As a consequence, this book provides essential material for advanced students and decision-makers interested in the changing role of multinational enterprises in the global economy. While being of broad interest to academics in the field of international business and strategy, this volume also provides interesting results to researchers concerned with the ability of national governments to regulate multinationals, how regulation affects multinationals, and how in turn multinationalconduct affects regulatory standards.