The boundaries of the firm in global strategy
回顾了全球战略中企业边界分析的发展，指出边界决策受交易成本最小化、资源价值最大化以及母国与东道国区位影响，并建议未来研究关注边界选项的复杂性、跨国公司的整体性及所有区位的特征。
Research summary We briefly review the evolution in the analysis of the boundaries of the firm in global strategy. We explain how initial studies that argued that firm boundaries were driven by the minimization of transaction costs were later complemented by analyses that proposed that firm boundaries were driven by the development and use of resources to maximize value creation and capture. Studies of global strategy combine these two approaches and introduce the influence of location—both the home and host countries—as a third influence on boundary decisions. We encourage future studies to focus more deeply on the complexity, dynamics, and mechanisms of three themes: the consideration of all boundary options, the study of the entirety of the multinational, and the simultaneous consideration analysis of the characteristics of all the locations in which the multinational is active. These suggestions help better connect the three drivers of firm boundaries: transactions, resources, and locations. Managerial summary We briefly review the evolution in academic thinking regarding the scope of activities of a firm, that is, a firm's boundaries, in global strategy. We explain how initial studies that argued that firm boundaries are driven by a desire to reduce costs were complemented by analyses that proposed that firm boundaries are driven by a desire to increase value creation and capture. Studies of global strategy combine these two drivers and introduce the influence of the location of operation—the home and host countries—as a third influence on boundary decisions. We provide suggestions for future studies on how to incorporate the complexity, dynamics, and mechanisms of the complete array of methods to manage boundaries, the complete set of subsidiaries of the multinational, and the complete set of characteristics of the relevant locations.