Managerial governance adaptation in the multinational enterprise: In honour of Mira Wilkins

Abstract

We propose an analytical business history approach, informed by new internalisation theory, to study managerial governance adaptation in the multinational enterprise (MNE). We shed new light on the timing and the scale of managerial governance adaptation. These two issues have remained largely unaddressed in mainstream international business theory. We uncover the importance of delayed, larger-scale governance adaptation as a response to cumulative, localised commitment failures. We illustrate our new perspective on managerial governance adaptation by providing a short retrospective of Wilkins and Hill’s (American business abroad: Ford on six continents, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1964) classic historical account of Ford Motor Company’s expansion across six continents between 1903 and 1963. Our brief retrospective highlights the value of in-depth historical analysis, informed by umbrella behavioural assumptions, such as those adopted in new internalisation theory-based research, to gain improved understanding of international strategy and governance trajectories of large MNEs.