Thoughit's widely understood that inward foreign direct investment has played a major role in mediating China's emergence into the international economic system, how and why MNEs have implemented their involvement as part of their global strategy is less well understood. This book explores the nature of the MNE in this era of globalization."

The chapters in this book provide detailed analyses of a range of issues that feed into an overview of the strategic development of the MNE over the past 40 years. This modeled as the evolution of the MNE from a multidomestic hierarchy to a network hierarchy to the contemporary strategic diversity of the heterarchy. The extensive range of empirical and conceptual analysis covers the strategic roles and competitive evolution of subsidiaries; the positioning of R&D labs of MNEs; how MNEs' R&D and product development programmes relate to, and affect the performance of, countries' national...

This book refocuses thinking on how multinational enterprises (MNEs) can achieve a sustained contribution to European transition economies as these countries move from the processes of transformation into pursuit of more sustained development. The authors apply key aspects of recent work on the strategic aims and nature of the contemporary MNE to the transition economy context, and find that the generation and application of technology has particular relevance to the success of MNEs in Central and Eastern Europe. The book is based on the results of two new wide-ranging surveys and includes a...