Die bedeutung institutionalistischer ansätze für das verständnis von organisations- und managementprozessen in multinationalen unternehmen

This paper provides an overview over one of the most recent debates in international management by discussing key assumptions, major approaches, main contributions and implications of European and American institutionalist theories. In particular, the article discusses and evaluates the consequences of these approaches for the theory of the multinational firm. The potential of these approaches is explored by highlighting four areas of interest: the role of the evolutionary paradigm, the influence of the country of origin, power relations in and autonomy of subsidiaries and the emergence of a transnational social space. The argument focuses on how these institutionalist approaches may further our understanding of and theoretical insights into the multinational firm.