Multilevel Research in International Business

Seminar arranged by Center for Strategic Management and Globalization

by Bo Nielsen (Western Washington University)

ABSTRACT: It has been argued by some (e.g., Buckley, 2002) that the international business research agenda is running out of steam. Part of the strength of past IB research can be found in its (seemingly) close engagement with empirical reality. However, it seems that the big questions (such as explaining flows of FDI, the existence and organization of MNCs, and processes of internationalization) have all been (more or less) answered and no new empirical questions have emerged. Yet, when asked in 1979, practitioners said that not many useful ideas were put forward by academics. Rigor had clearly hindered relevance – I suspect this is the same today!

How does one reach a synthesis or balance between relevance and rigor in the dialectical sense? Perhaps the answer lies in shifting the focus away from the firm (MNC) as the unit of analysis. IB research has traditionally been dominated by economic theory, which lacks the ability to incorporate cultural and institutional factors as well as managerial capability. A careful investigation of emerging empirical issues pertaining to international business management might illuminate the need for a more coherent, multi-level theoretical framework to help explain international business phenomena. The key to international business research is that it approaches empirical phenomena at a variety of levels of analysis, using a variety of theoretical frameworks and analytical methods. The most important levels of analysis are the individual manager, the firm (and its subsidiaries), the industry, and the environmental context. At each level there is vast heterogeneity. While all levels have been analyzed in the past in IB research, almost all have been analyzed in isolation without due attention to cross-level effects.

The purpose of this seminar is to initiate discussions about multi-level issues in IB research. By inviting you to rethink your current research in terms of multi-level issues we may start building a more empirically relevant, IB specific theoretical framework.