Too many international business strategy textbooks slavishly adhere to mainstream conceptual models. The publication of those models in prestigious practitioner journals such as the Harvard Business Review seems to shelter them from scholarly criticism. The problem is that the policy recommendations derived from these models, while sometimes insightful, are all too often based on implicit and restrictive assumptions. They are frequently oversimplified and seldom based on a rigorous analytical framework that assesses the opportunity costs of following the recommended paths, that is the costs of foregoing alternative strategies.

In this textbook of unusual depth and scope, Alain Verbeke provides a critical reassessment of Theodore Levitt's famous edicts on global marketing, Michael Porter's diamond, Prahalad and Hamel's core competence, Bartlett and Ghoshal's transnational solution, and many other conceptual models that have until now been treated as almost sacrosanct. These mainstream views are not analyzed in isolation, but systematically within the context of a simple but insightful conceptual framework, which synthesizes several decades of scholarly research on multinational enterprise strategy.

In addition to solid conceptual foundations, this book provides a rich empirical background. Every concept is illustrated with examples drawn from actual managerial practice. The tight link between theory and practice makes for a powerful intellectual toolkit which can be directly used by senior managers as they weigh alternative global strategies.

As a scholar engaged in the comparative institutional analysis of multinational enterprises, I am struck by the ad hoc quality of much of the advice offered to senior managers.