Business history, international business and strategy scholarship

2022 ◽  
pp. 63-74
Author(s):  
John F. Wilson ◽  
Ian G. Jones ◽  
Steven Toms ◽  
Anna Tilba ◽  
Emily Buchnea ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
International Business ◽  
Business History

scholarly journals The Free-Standing Company: a “zombie” theory of international business history?

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Mollan
Keyword(s):  
International Business ◽  
Business History ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Free Standing ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Firms ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
New Framework

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to decompose the historical and conceptual basis of the Free-Standing Company (FSC) in international business history. This is used to critique the FSC concept. The paper then provides a new framework to explain the lifecycle of these firms in a theoretically sensitive way. Design/methodology/approach The paper is conceptual. The argument is developed through a critical reading of the existing literature. Findings The central argument presented is that the FSC concept is ahistorical and cannot fully explain the firms it considers over time. An alternative approach is proposed. Research limitations/implications The paper does not present new (archival) historical evidence. Originality/value The central contribution/ambition of the paper is to advance the theoretical understanding of international firms of considerable historical importance. The ambition of the paper is to help renew research into this important historical organizational form that speaks directly to the ability of historical research to help advance international business theory.

scholarly journals The New Internalization Theory and Multinational Enterprises from Emerging Economies: A Business History Perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Verbeke ◽  
Liena Kano
Keyword(s):  
International Business ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Emerging Economy ◽  
Business History ◽  
Internalization Theory ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
International Business Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Research Agendas

The recent surge of emerging-economy multinational enterprises (EMNEs) has prompted a debate on whether existing international business theory—particularly internalization theory—can accommodate this phenomenon. Our view is that no new, EMNE-centric theory is required to study EMNEs. Using historical evidence, we argue that “new” internalization theory is sufficient to address the complexity of EMNEs, and we illustrate our argument with examples of ten successful EMNEs from Asia and the Americas. We further argue that a business history lens can illuminate the behavior of developed-economy multinationals. We show how management scholars can advance their research agendas by engaging with business history and how business historians can use internalization theory to analyze the history of multinationals.

International Business Finance and Monetary Policy in Western Europe, 1384–1410

1969 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 372-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herman van der Wee
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
International Business ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Money Market ◽  
Business History

Professor van der Wee reviews Raymond de Roover's important new study of medieval business history, The Bruges Money Market around 1400.

Methodological Contributions in International Business and the Direction of Academic Research Activity

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Kogut
Keyword(s):  
International Business ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Entry Mode ◽  
Business History ◽  
Business Research ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
International Business Research ◽  
Research Programmes ◽  
National Systems

The development of the field of international business has been strongly driven by innovations in research design and methodologies. This article emphasizes this role in order to suggest that progress is engaged when a community collectively is able to ride upon common methods, schemas, and templates. Research in international business has contributed its own methodological and design that served as a template for subsequent efforts. This article documents briefly three contributions: Raymond Vernon's multinational database, foreign direct investment studies, and the choice of foreign entry mode. It turns then to two current areas of research (i.e. organizational ecology and comparative national systems) that might benefit from agreement on design and method. In focusing on these contributions, it neglects other major contributions to international business research, especially that of business history that has indisputably created successful research programmes with defined methodologies.

International Business and the Development of British Electrical Manufacturing, 1886–1929

2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Fitzgerald
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
International Business ◽  
Business History ◽  
World War ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
International Operations

British electrical manufacturing provides important insights into international business history and demonstrates the key role of cross-border networks and agreements in its emergence. This article analyzes the factors that shaped phases in the industry's development and international operations. In doing so, the article reappraises electrical manufacturing's early decades in Britain; it shows how a changing political landscape transformed the strategies and ownership of firms, and reevaluates the industry's restructuring during World War I and its immediate aftermath. Further, the article questions accounts of British electrical manufacturing's failure in the 1920s and discusses the return to strategies of cross-border networks and agreements. Finally, it considers the lessons of British electrical manufacturing's emergence and subsequent consolidation, weighing the influences of firm-level, national, and international factors.

Organizational Innovation in Nineteenth-Century Railway Investment: Peripheral Countries in a Global Economy

2014 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 709-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Álvaro Silva
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
International Business ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Management Strategy ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
Business History ◽  
World War ◽  
The Common ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between ownership and control of distant ventures has been a major topic in business history. This relationship prompted the creation of a specific organizational form, the freestanding company, particularly active in international business before World War I. The freestanding form and railway companies such as Companhia Real share the common characteristic of being stand-alone firms based on foreign direct investment (FDI), but their legal ownership and management strategy were different. The freestanding companies offshored legal ownership; Companhia Real offshored top management since it was incorporated in the country hosting FDI. This business configuration was usual in French investments across European peripheral countries. This article introduces a new concept into the current international business literature, emphasizing the polymorphous character of foreign investment before World War I.

Chandler and Global Business History

2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mira Wilkins
Keyword(s):  
International Business ◽  
Business History ◽  
Global Business ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

What was Alfred D.Chandler's significance in the study of business history throughout the world? How did his views evolve? Why was his approach so influential? How did his thinking contribute to comparative business history and to the history of international business? This essay is designed to answer these questions.

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