IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ijecbs/v8y2001i2p257-272.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From OLI to OLMA: Incorporating Higher Levels of Environmental and Structural Complexity into the Eclectic Paradigm

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen Guisinger

Abstract

Theorists using the eclectic paradigm have drastically restricted their analytic scope to the firm and its subsidiaries, rarely exploring more finely grained firm structures, such as business processes. By contrast, organisational theorists examining multinational firm behaviour have employed a richly differentiated array of firm structural forms though without developing a precise delineation of the international business environment. Eclectic researchers are adept at handling environmental, but not structural, complexity, while the reverse seems true for organisational theorists. This study extends the eclectic paradigm by incorporating higher levels of environmental and structural complexity through two methods: (1) a deconstruction of the multinational firm into business processes; and (2) a more complete definition of the international business environment, called geovalent elements. The paper argues that an enhanced eclectic paradigm called OLMA (for Ownership, Location, Mode of entry, and Adjustment) provides the complete set of concepts needed for studying the modern multinational firm.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Guisinger, 2001. "From OLI to OLMA: Incorporating Higher Levels of Environmental and Structural Complexity into the Eclectic Paradigm," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 257-272.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ijecbs:v:8:y:2001:i:2:p:257-272
    DOI: 10.1080/13571510110051487
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13571510110051487
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13571510110051487?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-279, April.
    2. La Porta, Rafael, et al, 1997. "Trust in Large Organizations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 333-338, May.
    3. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    4. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    5. John H. Dunning, 1977. "Trade, Location of Economic Activity and the MNE: A Search for an Eclectic Approach," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Bertil Ohlin & Per-Ove Hesselborn & Per Magnus Wijkman (ed.), The International Allocation of Economic Activity, chapter 12, pages 395-418, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. Bruce Kogut & Harbir Singh, 1988. "The Effect of National Culture on the Choice of Entry Mode," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 19(3), pages 411-432, September.
    7. Sachs, Jeffrey D & Warner, Andrew M, 1997. "Fundamental Sources of Long-Run Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 184-188, May.
    8. Geert Hofstede, 1983. "The Cultural Relativity of Organizational Practices and Theories," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 14(2), pages 75-89, June.
    9. Y. L. Doz & C. K. Prahalad, 1991. "Managing DMNCs: A search for a new paradigm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S1), pages 145-164, June.
    10. Sam Laird & Alexander Yeats, 1990. "Quantitative Methods for Trade-Barrier Analysis," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-11141-1.
    11. Thomas W. Malone & Kevin Crowston & Jintae Lee & Brian Pentland & Chrysanthos Dellarocas & George Wyner & John Quimby & Charles S. Osborn & Abraham Bernstein & George Herman & Mark Klein & Elissa O'Do, 1999. "Tools for Inventing Organizations: Toward a Handbook of Organizational Processes," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(3), pages 425-443, March.
    12. David A Ricks, 1985. "International Business Research: Past, Present and Future," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 16(2), pages 1-4, June.
    13. Stephen Golub, 1995. "Comparative and absolute advantage in the Asia-Pacific region," Pacific Basin Working Paper Series 95-09, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    14. Boddewyn, Jean J., 1999. "The domain of international management," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 3-14.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. He, Kathy S. & Morck, Randall & Yeung, Bernard, 2003. "Corporate Stability and Economic Growth," CEI Working Paper Series 2003-12, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    2. Ferreira, Manuel Portugal & Li, Dan & Guisinger, Stephen & Serra, Fernando A. Ribeiro, 2009. "Será o ambiente internacional de negócios o contexto efetivo para a pesquisa em negócios internacionais?," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 49(3), July.
    3. Angel de la Fuente & Antonio Ciccone, 2003. "Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 562.03, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    4. Fogel, Kathy & Morck, Randall & Yeung, Bernard, 2008. "Big business stability and economic growth: Is what's good for General Motors good for America?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 83-108, July.
    5. Cooray, Arusha, 2011. "The role of the government in financial sector development," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 928-938, May.
    6. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "Government Ownership of Banks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 265-301, February.
    7. Frank H. Stephen & David Urbano & Stefan van Hemmen, 2005. "The impact of institutions on entrepreneurial activity," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(7), pages 413-419.
    8. Capolupo, Rosa, 2009. "The New Growth Theories and Their Empirics after Twenty Years," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 3, pages 1-72.
    9. Jian Zhang, 2018. "Public Governance and Corporate Fraud: Evidence from the Recent Anti-corruption Campaign in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 375-396, March.
    10. Kwabi, Frank Obenpong & Boateng, Agyenim & Wonu, Chizindu & Kariuki, Charles & Du, Anna, 2023. "Political uncertainty and cross-border equity portfolio allocation decisions: International evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    11. Mohammad Amin & Jamal Haidar, 2012. "The cost of registering property: does legal origin matter?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 1035-1050, June.
    12. Utz Weitzel & Sjors Berns, 2006. "Cross-border takeovers, corruption, and related aspects of governance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(6), pages 786-806, November.
    13. Castellani, Marco, 2019. "Does culture matter for the economic performance of countries? An overview of the literature," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 700-717.
    14. Leopoldo Fergusson, 2006. "Institutions for Financial Development: What are they and where do they come from?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 27-70, February.
    15. Edward L. Glaeser & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "Do Institutions Cause Growth?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 271-303, September.
    16. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    17. Guiso, Luigi & Sapienza, Paola & Zingales, Luigi, 2003. "People's opium? Religion and economic attitudes," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 225-282, January.
    18. Manuel Portugal Ferreira & Dan Li & Stephen Guisinger, 2007. "Is the 'International Business Environment' the Actual Context for IB Research?," Working Papers 2, globADVANTAGE, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria.
    19. Adèle Feulefack Tsangué, 2023. "Banking Market Structure in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Institutions," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(7), pages 406-429, July.
    20. Simeon Djankov & Tim Ganser & Caralee McLiesh & Rita Ramalho & Andrei Shleifer, 2010. "The Effect of Corporate Taxes on Investment and Entrepreneurship," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 31-64, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:ijecbs:v:8:y:2001:i:2:p:257-272. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CIJB20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.