Call for Papers
Revue Management International, Fall 2011
“Location Strategies of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs): Towards New Practices and Theories?”
Invited Editors:
Ana Colovic, Groupe ESC Rouen
Anthony Goerzen, University of Victoria and Visiting Scholar at Groupe ESC Rouen
Ulrike Mayrhofer, IAE de Lyon, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, and Groupe ESC Rouen
In a context of economic globalisation and growing regional integration, multinational enterprises (MNEs) face an ongoing need to reshape their investment strategies and, more specifically, to optimize the choice of location for their activities. In fact, MNEs currently conduct 28% of their R&D abroad, and scholars expect this trend to become more marked in the coming years with these activities increasingly migrating to emerging economies.
The process of MNE internationalization and the examination of their foreign location choice are some of the central issues in International Business research. The literature on MNEs and their location strategies has evolved considerably in recent years. The topic was developed first from an economic perspective where researchers have attempted toexplain the strategic decisions of MNEs, mainly focusing on the reasons for internationalization and the determinants of market entry mode choices (e.g. Dunning’s eclectic paradigm). These models allow a better understanding of why companies choose tolocate activities in foreign markets and which options they have for entering new markets.
During the 1990s, a new approach emerged, called the New Economic Geography, concentrating on the geographic dimension of location strategies. This analysis emphasizes that economic activities tend to agglomerate in certain regions and shows why some regions tend to attract certain activities (clusters). Several recent contributions also emphasize the importance of economic drivers such as market size and investment incentives.
A second research stream explains the location choice based on institutional and cultural factors. This stream suggests that MNEs’ location strategies are influenced by the institutional and the cultural environment. According to this stream, MNEs prefer to locate foreign operations in host countries that are close or similar to their home country because this will substantially minimize uncertainty and thus increase chances for success. The literature on institutional and cultural effects includes legal, political and cultural dimensions. For example, some authors find that differences between the MNEs home-country and host-country political systems are likely to increase costs and uncertainty, and consequently to influence the effectiveness of MNEs operating in that foreign environment. Recent reviews on the effects of culture in the field of International Business discuss the influence of national culture placing the emphasis on the differences in national cultural values between home and host countries and the potential consequences on international operations.
Related to this is the debate in the literature as to the ‘regional’ vs. ‘global’ character of MNEs’ operations. Recently, Rugman analyzed the 500 largest multinational firms and concluded that the great majority of these firms concentrate their activities in their home region - North America, Europe or Asia-Pacific. The author argues that most companies are not global but rather regional or in some smaller proportion bi-regional. This can be explained by the fact that distance still plays an important role, despite the globalisation of markets. In this perspective, the multidimensional character of the concept of distance (including cultural, administrative, geographical, economic and technological aspects) that influences the international expansion of should be taken into account. Flores and Aguilera (2007) analyze location choices of the top 100 US MNEs in 1980 and 2000. Their findings suggest, first, that the extent of MNEs' activities around the globe is more extensive than assumed by regionalists' arguments and well beyond Ohmae's Triad, but still less widespread than claimed by the globalists - the two main traditions within the globalization - regionalization debate.
The literature on location strategies of multinational corporations shows that the field needs further theoretical and empirical development to better understand the complexity of location choices. Therefore, we invite authors to submit articles on the following themes:
- Configuration/reconfiguration of the global value-chain of MNEs
- Comparison of location strategies of MNEs (countries of origin, industries, performance, etc.)
- Location strategies for specific functions: production, R&D, marketing, etc.
- Attractiveness of territories for MNE location (countries, regions, cities)
- Contribution of location strategies to the performance of MNEs
- Relationships between headquarters and foreign subsidiaries
- Changing roles of headquarters and foreign subsidiaries
- Disaggregation and functional fragmentation of the value chain
The above is only a suggestive list - we would also encourage authors to explore issues of location strategies that extend beyond this list. Both theoretical and empirical papers are welcome. Papers should be submitted by e-mail to Management International (micetai@hec.ca) no later than November 15, 2010 for publication in the special issue of fall 2011. A more complete invitztion with references to the literature can be found at the website of the journal. The presentation of submitted papers must strictly follow the style guide of management International (http://revue.hec.ca/mi). Papers selected for possible publication will be evaluated through a peer review system on a double blind basis.
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