Multinationals As Flagship Firms Regional Business Networks

by Rugman, Alan M.; D'Cruz, Joseph R.

• ISBN13: 9780198295624
• ISBN10: 0198295626
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-07-27
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The international dimension of business networks has remained relatively unexplored, mainly because international business writers focus upon multinational enterprises and network writers ignore international issues. In this book Professors Alan Rugman and Joseph D'Cruz bridge the literatureon networks and multinationals by introducing the new concept of the flagship firm. In each business network strategic leadership is provided by the flagship firm, which is defined as a multinational enterprise. It has other partners: key suppliers; key customers; key competitors; and key partners in the non-business infrastructure. These business networks are usually located inthe 'triad' regions of the European Union, North America, and Japan. There are strong cross-border network linkages within these regions, but less 'globalization' than regional economic integration. The theory of the flagship firm/five partners model is applied to the telecommunications, chemicals, automotive, and electronics sectors, amongst others, and the book reports on both empirical studies and field research of the international competitiveness of these sectors. The book will be of interest to academics, students, and professionals in the areas of international business, strategic management, political science, law, and sociology.

Author Biography

Alan Rugman is Thames Water Fellow in Strategic Management, Templeton College, University of Oxford. Previous positions have included Professor of International Business, University of Toronto (19871998); Professor of International Business, Delhousie University (19801987); and Visiting Professor at Brandeis University, UCLA, Western Washington University, and Columbia Business School.
Joseph R. D'Cruz is Professor of Strategic Management at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. He also consults widely with multinational corporations in the areas of global strategy and international operations. (Major clients include ICI, Exxon Corporation, Price Waterhouse, and DSM.) He was awarded the Touche Ross Award for the best article in Business Quarterly entitled The Globalization of Manufacturing (with Professor Fleck).
Professors Rugman and D'Cruz are co-editors of the Kodak series of studies on Canada's international competitiveness.

Table of Contents

Preface	v
Acknowledgements	vi
List of Figures	viii
List of Tables	x
Abbreviations	xi
Introduction	1	(16)
Part I: The Concept of the Flagship Firm
The Flagship Firm and the Five Partners Business Network	17	(13)
Corporate Strategy and the Flagship Firm	30	(15)
Part II: Multinational Enterprise Theory and the Flagship Firm
Internalization and Deinternalization: Will Business Networks Replace Multinationals?	45	(17)
Partners across Borders: Organizational Learning and the Flagship Firm	62	(20)
The Theory of the Flagship Firm	82	(17)
Part III: Case Studies of Flagship Business Networks
The Canadian Telecommunications Network	99	(19)
The French Telecommunications Network	118	(12)
The Canadian Speciality Chemicals Network	130	(20)
The Scottish Electronics Cluster	150	(10)
The North American Automotive Cluster	160	(27)
Part IV: Conclusions
Managerial Implications of Flagship Relationships	187	(16)
References	203	(8)
Index	211