This book has tried to identify the limits of many insightful, but oversimplified, normative models of how to conduct international business strategy. As a general rule, those models do not spell out correctly the requirements for achieving international, let alone global, corporate success. The problem with most prevailing models is that they attempt to apply to all international business situations a set of prescriptions that are valid only for solving a narrow set of problems. Each MNE has a particular history, a unique resource base, a specific competitive position in its industry, and its own vision of what constitutes desirable international expansion. With international business strategy, one size does not fit all.

What all MNEs do have in common, however, is that they all face opportunities and challenges inviting serious analysis, building upon a small set of conceptual building blocks. These key building blocks are: firm-specific advantages, or FSAs (both location-bound and non-location-bound), location advantages, value creation through resource recombination, complementary resources of other economic actors, bounded rationality and bounded reliability. These building blocks permit us to recognize and understand most international business opportunities and challenges facing senior MNE managers. Importantly, this small set of building blocks also allows us to identify the limitations of normative messages and models that prescribe how to conduct international business strategy.