From M-form to N-form: The Structure of Multinational Corporations

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to map, illuminate and explain the recent development of the strategies, structure and control of multinational corporations. The aim is to identify crucial problems in managing and organizing multinational corporations and describe what sort of approaches are used and proposed to solve these problems.

This is a literature study where an inventory and critical examination of the recent research on the strategies, structure and control of multinational corporations. The emphasis in the study is on research carried out in the last ten years. It starts out with a summary of the early research on multinational corporations, proceeds to an analysis of the process school, and ends up with a discussion about organizing international operations from a network perspective.