Multinational Enterprises and Cross-border Acquisitions: Evolution of the Field

ABSTRACT

The rise of the multinational enterprise to international prominence has been remarkable. This study takes an evolutionary approach in chronicling the development of the multinational enterprise field, to include supporting theory. The central lens whereby multinationals have been examined has experienced several significant shifts in focus over time. Likewise, the dominant multinational internationalization entry mode, cross-border acquisition, has concurrently co-evolved. As such, we contribute to the literature by providing a detailed mapping of this co-evolution (multinationals and cross-border acquisitions) across diverse contexts (e.g., management, finance, economics), to include associated research, theory, practice, and future pathways.

KEYWORDS:

• Multinational enterprise
• cross-border acquisition
• co-evolution
• developed market multinational
• emerging market multinational
• new multinational