Japanese multinational companies (MNCs) have often been portrayed as highly centralised firms that limit the roles of overseas subsidiaries to the assembly and sale of standardised products designed and developed in Japan (see, e.g. Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989: 51-2, 158-161). Their foreign...

The nature and economic role of legally constituted firms varies between market economiesand changes over time. In particular, the governance of leading firms and how they developdistinctive organisational capabilities vary between institutional regimes and their supportingpolitical-economic...

The governance and organisation of scientific research undertaken for publication have alteredsignificantly since the end of the Second World War in many industrialised economies. Thesechanges have had significant effects on authority relations governing research goals, approachesand the...

Recent changes in the funding and governance of research universities have attempted tomake them more strategically active in contributing to national goals. However, the ability ofuniversities to develop strategic capabilities as cohesive organisations is limited by the inherentuncertainty of...

Different ways of competing in markets came to dominate particular sectors, regions and national market economies in the postwar period as a result of variations in market conditions, technological regimes and institutional contexts. These varied in terms of production volumes, basis of...

Much recent work on firms' capabilities and competitive competences builds on Penrose's (1959) seminal contribution to the theory of the firm in emphasising their organisational nature, and the critical role of managerial routines in transforming resources into distinctive services (see, e.g....

Building on the work of Penrose (1959), Richardson (1960; 1972) and others, recent contributions to the theory of the firm have emphasised the importance of endogenously developed capabilities and competences for building sustained competitive advantages (see, for example, Foss and Knudsen, 1996)....

Recent studies of sectoral specialisation and technological development across market economies have shown how contrasting patterns of technical change can be explained by the different institutional frameworks that have become established in distinct types of economy (see, e.g., Casper, 2000;...

A central tenet of economic sociology is that culture and regulatory institutions help to constitute the nature of economic actors and guide their actions, thus affecting economic outcomes (see, e.g., DiMaggio, 1994; Smelser and Swedberg, 1994). As socially organised agents operating in different...