Regional multinationals: Looking backward and looking forward

The International Management (IM) community has devoted increasing attention to the development of regional strategies by multinational corporations (MNCs). In contrast with the globalization euphoria that characterized the late 90s, recent empirical observation of the actual geographic scope of firms operating across borders revealed that the vast majority of these companies carried out the bulk of their economic activities in their home region. While early regionalization -or semi-globalization- studies contributed to re-orienting the academic conversation on the limits and mechanisms of geographic diversification, many aspects of this phenomenon are still poorly understood. This panel will look backward, by reviewing the existing body of work on regional multinationals and forward, by attempting to address some of the unresolved issues. In particular, our panelists will review (1) the state-of-the-art in the research addressing regional multinationals, (2) the various roles played by regional headquarters, (3) the adequacy of using countries as the basic unit of analysis and geographic distance as the primary criterion for determining a company's optimal scope of activities, and (4) whether regional strategies call for regional managerial mindsets. We expect that combining these diverse perspectives will result in a rich and interactive discussion between panelists and audience, and a better understanding of the work being done on this important topic.