International Business Versus International Management? International Strategic Management from the View of point of Internalisation Theory

This article examines the theoretical bases of both international management and the internalisation approach to international business. Similarities include: attention to the ‘make or buy’ decision, interaction between locational and organisational variables and attention to internal control mechanisms. International management pays particular attention to the specific constraints on the firm's strategy arising from its history, dominant culture and leadership and to the process of management. The two approaches are used to analyse a single problem: the management of research and development, and it is found that important differences in emphasis remain. The approaches contrast but do not conflict.