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Strategy and structure in multinational corporations: A revision of the stopford and wells model
Author(s) -
Egelhoff William G.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
strategic management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 11.035
H-Index - 286
eISSN - 1097-0266
pISSN - 0143-2095
DOI - 10.1002/smj.4250090102
Subject(s) - multinational corporation , industrial organization , business , element (criminal law) , economic geography , international trade , economics , political science , finance , law
The Stopford and Wells study of strategy and structure in multinational corporations produced a now familiar model relating certain types of structure to certain elements of a firm's international strategy. This paper re‐examines the important relationships expressed by the model, using data from a recent study of 34 large U.S. and European multinationals. While some of the relationships are supported, others are not. A new element of strategy, the relative size of foreign manufacturing, is introduced, and found to be an important predictor of structure. Based on the findings, a revised model for relating strategy and structure in MNCs is proposed.