Strategic Choice Models in a Globalized Marketplace : Perspectives through the Resource Based View and Transaction Cost Economics Conceptual Lenses

The last two decades have been characterized by accelerated technological innovations, fanned by rapid developments in global telecommunication and information networks, and the lowering of trade barriers among nations. These developments have made globalization one of the most dominant forces in contemporary times with far reaching implications in the various dimensions of international relations — economically, politically, socio-culturally and environmentally. In the social sciences, the efficacy of models developed prior to this postmodern globalization era has not been explored sufficiently to date. This paper addresses how firms can integrate globalization dynamics into all levels of strategic management to maintain a successful competitive position in the global marketplace. It does so by critiquing the classic strategic models offered by Ansoff (1965) and Hofer and Schendel (1978) through the conceptual lenses of the resource based view and transaction cost economics theory, and concludes by offering some evaluative perspectives about these two conceptual lenses