Explores changes in the international economic environment, their impacts on the strategy of firms and the spatial consequences of these changes in strategy. This book is a resource for students and researchers working and studying in the areas of international business, corporations, business strategy, economic geography and business geography.

Written by eminent scholars who are well know within their fields across Europe, this book explores changes in the international economic environment, their impacts on the strategy of firms and the spatial consequences of these changes in strategy. The economic environment in which major companies operate is subject to rapid and important changes. Such changes have their impact on the strategy of major and even smaller companies and changes in these firm's strategies often have important implications for the location choice of their activities, be it production, outsourcing, R&D or administrative activities. Addressing these issues in a clear yet rigorous manner, this book is an excellent resource for students and researchers working and studying in the areas of international business, corporations, business strategy, economic geography and business geography.

Preface, 1. THE CORPORATE FIRM IN A SPATIAL CONTEXT, Piet Pellenbarg and Egbert Wever, 2. networks of firms in flanders (Belgium): CHARACTERISTICS AND TERRITORIAL IMPACTS, Dominique Vanneste and Peter Cabus, 3. GLOBAL PRODUCTION AND TRADE SYSTEMS: THE VOLVO CASE, Inge Ivarsson and Claes Alvstam, 4. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE PRODUCTION PROCESS: THE CASE OF SMARTVILLE, Peter Dorrenbacher and Christian Schulz, 5. IINTERNAL VENTURING: SPONSORED CORPORATE SPIN-OFFS IN SWEDEN, A...sa Lindholm Dahlstrand and Martin Wallin, 6. BECOMING A GLOBAL PLAYER: ING REAL ESTATE, Ed Nozeman, 7. THE INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE AND LOCATION BEHAVIOR OF THE US, EUROPEAN AND ASIAN SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRIES, Tomokazu Arita and Philip McCann, 8. GLOBALIZATION OF A POTATO STARCH CO-OPERATIVE: THE CASE OF AVEBE, Dirk Strijker, 9. PHILIPS: A GLOBAL ELECTRONICS FIRM RESTRUCTURING ITS HOME BASE, Oedzge Atzema, Egbert Wever and Marlies Krol, 10. PRODUCT UPGRADING AND SURVIVAL: THE CASE OF VW NAVARRA, Martina Fuchs, 11. THE DEMISE OF A LOCAL CHAMPION: MACMILLAN BLOEDEL'S ACQUISITION BY WEYERHAEUSER, Roger Hayter, 12. GLAXOSMITHKLINE: REGIONAL AND LOCAL NETWORKING IN A POST-COMMUNIST ECONOMY, Tadeus Stryjakiewicz, 13. EPILOGUE: A RELATIONAL PERSPECTIVE, Peter Dicken, Index