This book surveys the contributions that economic analysis has made to our understanding of why multinational enterprises exist.

A key distinctive feature of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) as organizations resides in the fact that they span across borders. This exposes them to dissimilar and often unfamiliar social and economic conditions as they venture in foreign countries. MNEs from industrialized economies that are active in developing countries and emerging markets face particularly challenging hurdles due to both economic and institutional discrepancies between their home and host countries. This book focuses on the uneasy interaction between the traditional logics of developing countries and the economic logic of MNEs. The traditional logics of most developing countries are built around community-based legitimacy and an intuitive but concrete epistemology. Conversely, the economic logic of MNEs from developed economies is built around technical and economic legitimacy and an abstract intellectual epistemology. Unpacking the uneasy interactions between these two logics will help achieve MNEs’ objectives of competitiveness in developing countries as well as globally. The Montreal Local Global Research Group is a well recognized research group in formulating and researching local and global issues in strategic management from the perspective of integrating divergent dominant logics into the strategy conceptualization process, and this will be the first book to be dedicated to the study of the interaction between the traditional logic of developing country and the economic logic of Multinational Enterprise (MNE). The cultural diversity of the contributing authors and the multidisciplinary approach offers a fresh perspective from which to explore beneficial corporate and local strategies that promote long-term economic growth consistent with local traditional and cultural norms. This collection will be primarily of interest to scholars of international business, international development, and economics. Furthermore, this book is immediately relevant to decision makers in Multinational corporations, NGOs and political decision makers that mediate the interaction between local actors and corporate agents in developing and transitional economies.

This Festschrift in honour of Professor Yair Aharoni, a pioneer in the field of international business, looks at several of these new trends in FDI, what they will mean for firms and governments, and the opportunities created by these developments to enrich or extend extant theory.

This book conducts an interdisciplinary and comparative examination of tort liabilities of multinational enterprises (MNEs). It examines the social, economic, managerial and legal characteristics of MNEs and compares the findings of this examination to the current understanding of MNEs in the way that tort liability is applied to them. Existing laws and principles related to liability of MNEs are explored from a variety of jurisdictions with the aim of assessing whether these laws are adequate for the challenges that modern MNEs create. Muzaffer Eroglu also proposes solutions to the problems of tort liability of MNEs. Comparing the theory of control in existing laws and the theory of control in business management structure, Multinational Enterprises and Tort Liabilities will be of great interest to academics, researchers, students and practitioners. It will also appeal to NGOs particularly interested with the liabilities of MNEs for their human rights breaches.

These papers provide an integrated treatment of the theory with its applications for industrial sectors, regions and international business policy. The theory is applied to smaller firms, to co-operative agreements between firms and to exports in the strategy of large multinational firms.

This volume provides new insights to the history of international business. The international group of authors, drawn from the United States, Canada, Britain and Japan, address two main themes: How has global business developed over the last century? And what has been its impact on host economies? These original and wide-ranging essays, prefaced by an extensive editorial introduction, are required reading in courses on international business.

This study investigated whether known economic and international business theories available in the literature are meaningful enough to explain the nature, existence and role of multinational companies (MNCs) in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia. Two sets of questionnaires were distributed in major cities of Saudi Arabia -- one set for 100 multinational managers and another for 280 multinational customers. 234 questionnaires were collected -- 45 from multinational managers and 189 from customers. This represents a total response rate of 62 percent, which is adequate for this study.The empirical results, supported with comprehensive secondary data, confirmed virtually all of the research hypotheses. The study found that joint ventures are the dominant form of multinational business in Saudi Arabia, both in manufacturing and service industries. The core roles of MNCs in the Saudi-foreign ventures are evident in the cross-border value-adding activities of marketing, trading, manufacturing, consulting, contracting, project management, insurance, hotel operation and banking. Likewise, MNCs provide licensing, franchising, financing services and various auxiliary roles in the Kingdom. Therefore, the multinationality of a firm or a group of firms operating across national boundaries is not necessarily synonymous with international production -- the main subject of contemporary multinational theories.The respondents generally perceived the competitiveness of MNCs operating in Saudi Arabia as a function of a number of economic, management, marketing, technological and other variables. They also perceived the contributions of MNCs to the KingdomÍs socio-economic developments as significant and positive.The study also found that understanding Islamic values and ethics is important for MNCs. In this regard, the researcher looked at some objective indicators of business success and related them to selected measures of MNCsÍ local cultural awareness and responsiveness. The results indicate that the business success of multinationals operating in Saudi Arabia is positively related to their local cultural awareness and responsiveness. Along this line, this study covers some vital elements of Islamic culture, which will help MNCs understand further the cultural needs, values and sensitivities of the Saudi people and Muslims in general.

This book explores and analyzes the effects of the globalization strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs) on national and local development and highlights the implications of these effects for policy makers. Containing contributions from leading international business scholars, the text addresses this previously little explored but critically important issue for the future of the world economy.

Multinational Enterprises and the Law is the only comprehensive, contemporary, and interdisciplinary account of the techniques used to regulate multinational enterprises (MNEs) at the national, regional, and multilateral levels. In addition, it considers the effects of corporate self-regulation, and the impact of civil society and community groups upon the development of the legal order in this area. The book has been thoroughly revised and updated for this third edition, making it a definitive reference work for students, researchers, and practitioners of international economic law, business, corporate and commercial law, development studies, and international politics. Split into four parts, the book first deals with the conceptual basis for MNE regulation. It explains the growth of MNEs, their business and legal forms, and the relationship between them and the effects of a globalised economy and society upon the evolution of regulatory agendas in the field. Part II covers the main areas of economic regulation, including the limits of national and regional jurisdiction over MNE activities, controls over, and the liberalisation of, entry and establishment, tax, company and competition law and the impact of intellectual property rights on technology diffusion and transfer. Part III introduces the social dimension of MNE regulation covering labour rights, human rights, and environmental issues. Finally, Part IV deals with the contribution of international investment law to MNE regulation and to the control of investment risks, covering the main provisions found in international investment agreements, their interpretation by international tribunals, and how concerns over these developments are leading to reform proposals.