The basic function of companies is to add value to society. Profits are a means to an end, not an end in itself. The ability of companies to innovate, scale and invest provides them with a powerful base for positive change. But companies are also criticized for not contributing sufficiently to society’s grand challenges. An increasingly VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world creates serious governance gaps that not only require new ways of regulation, but ...

There is within the corporate world an evolving international restructuring race,between industrial complexes,that is set to intensify over the coming years.An industrial complex consists of suppliers,distributors,governments,financiers and trade unions.It is the reorganisation of the relationship between the core firm and the above components that is set to change before very long. In this book, Winfied Ruigrok and Rob van Tulder address many current debates on topics such as "Post-Fordis...

In combining practice and theory, this textbook provides a management perspective on the ‘business case’ for sustainability. Drawing on examples from 20 frontrunner companies located in the Netherlands, it builds upon a unique research project in which CEOs and middle-managers gave access not only to their decision-making process, but also revealed how their perceptions shaped the transition process.This book identifies four different archetypes of business cases and related busine...

In the twenty-first century, as traditional divides are redefined, bargaining over corporate responsibilities has increasingly centred around corporate reputation and the question of whether businesses are part of society’s problems or part of their solution. This ground-breaking book treats issues, strategies and societal interaction in a homogenous manner and analyzes the nature of the international bargaining society as it has matured.Discussing and contextualizing contemporary ...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent the leading governance frame with which the international community tries to address complex interconnected global issues. The SDGs were adopted in 2015 by all 193 UN member states and were also quickly embraced by most Multinational Enterprises (MNEs), International NGOs and leading business schools. But progress has proved slow. In 2020, the United Nations announced a ’decade of action’ to speed-up progress in the area. To what extent an...

This volume is dedicated to Lorraine Eden for her lifetime contributions to IB scholarship. Her research, spanning several decades, has addressed many interdisciplinary and societal themes at the heart of the IB field. The story of her intellectual journey -- strongly influenced by the coming of age of the fourth industrial revolution -- is shared in the opening chapter of this volume.This thirteenth volume in the PIBR series covers an increasingly important area of research for In...

The 2023 conference of the European International Business Academy (EIBA) was held in Lisbon, three decades after the previous EIBA Lisbon conference in 1993. Over this 30-year period, the international business environment changed dramatically, passing through phases of globalisation, increased nationalistic sentiments in a large number of countries, and a ‘cascade of crises’ or a ‘poly-crisis’. Currently, MNEs operate within a changing global power balance, with China and its allies chal...

This fourteenth volume in the PIBR series is dedicated to Professor Peter Buckley, OBE, whose creative contributions to IB theory and practice over many decades are unmatched. His scientific oeuvre has continued to grow, both in depth and breadth, and reflects an evolving level of scholarly resilience that has kept pace with the increasing Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA) characteristics of the modern environment of international business.The VUCA dimensions...

Across the globe, concerns escalate about the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on global climate conditions, implications on global trade from pandemics, and the destruction of ecosystems from the exploitation of limited and non-replaceable global resources. Politicians and businesses alike agree that something must be done, the question is what, how, when, and by whom? What should firms do to reduce their carbon footprint while continuing to secure jobs and profits? When should firms m...

This sixteenth volume in the PIBR series, International Business in Times of Crisis, is dedicated to Professor Geoffrey Jones from the Harvard Business School, and to the importance of historical scholarship in International Business (IB) studies.The global Covid-19 crisis triggered a profound economic crisis, with a decline in global economic activity on a scale not seen since the Great Depression. This pandemic revealed systems failures and fragilities closely related to...

The Multiple Dimensions of Institutional Complexity in International Business Research provides a fresh overview of many novel international business research challenges as they pertain to salient institutional dimensions with a locational component.The first part of the Volume includes chapters honoring the work of Eleanor Westney. These chapters address subject matter related to globalization challenges in the realm of the ‘new normal’ of populism and de-globalization te...

This PIBR volume examines a number of idiosyncratic elements in the internationalization strategies of BRIC MNEs and, in particular, in their relationship with home country policies:The theoretical challenge: do we need different or more specific theories of EMNEs to assess the phenomenon of BRIC multinationals?The empirical challenge: what marks the changing position of BRIC countries in the world economy?The managerial challenge: wi...