The Geographic Orientation of Multinational Enterprises and its Implications for Performance

Diametrically opposed views exist on the nature of global strategic management, the existence of global multinational enterprises (MNEs), and the performance implications of regional and global orientation. However, these divergent opinions on the nature of global strategy “should be considered a starting point for introducing systematically a regional component in international business research” (Rugman & Verbeke, 2004a, p. 5). Our aim in this chapter, therefore, is to examine the geographic orientation (i.e., regional versus global) of multinational firms to provide new insights into some of the important characteristics that distinguish between these MNE archetypes. Our findings suggest that the interaction between the MNE's organizational characteristics and its geographic orientation is associated with MNEs performance. By arguing for a contingency perspective on regional and global strategy, we thus attempt to bridge the gap between these two opposing viewpoints.