Organization Theory and the Multinational Corporation

by Sumantra Ghoshal, D. Eleanor Westney

Despite a shared interest in the analysis of complex organizations operating in complex environments macro-organization theory and research on the multinational corporation (MNC) have not had a close relationship. Scholars working on the MNC have drawn eclectically, rather than systematically, on organization theory, and organization theorists have largely ignored the MNC as a venue for research.
This book explores the potential for synergy across the two fields. The product of a collaborative endeavour involving scholars from both areas, it suggests how different strands of organization theory, including institutionalization theory, organizational ecology, exchange theory, transaction cost theory, contingency theory and structuration theory can illuminate the analysis of the MNC and how such extension to the MNC might enrich the theories themselves. The primary objective of the book is to stimulate mutual interest and research collaboration among organization theorists and international management scholars, and to encourage both established researchers and those entering the two fields to pursue theory-grounded empirical research on the MNC.

358 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

an Indian scholar and educator who served as Professor of Strategic and International Management at the London Business School, and was the founding Dean of the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad.