The Historical Evolution of International Business

This book represents the first and most comprehensive account of the history of International Business (IB) as a field of study. The chronicling of the evolution of IB thought, teaching, and institutions in a unified framework serves to observe the interdependencies among these components and demonstrates the ways by which they have jointly shaped IB as a field of study. The book is based on vast volumes of original material whose discussion and interpretation by leading IB scholars creates a dialogue between historical perspectives and contemporary developments and shows the critical role of history in understanding the current state and discourse of IB as a field of study. The book situates the history of IB within the broader context of business, political, and societal developments, and examines the interaction between external and internal forces as they have shaped the field’s growth trajectory, both on its own and in comparison with those of other fields of study.

“Lilac Nachum and Attila Yaprak provide an impressive study of international business (IB), encompassing thought, teaching, and institutions. Over the course of AIB history, teaching, research (thought), and institutions have been fused, yet the separate categorization in this book, represented in separate chapters, brings a panoply of fresh insights. Comments on each chapter by AIB leaders consider theories, methods, and measurement, demonstrating varieties of perspectives and emphasizing different aspects of IB with only partial consensus. This stimulating book with its variety of historical approaches to international business should attract a wide audience, comprising not only scholars, but teaching faculty and students, those involved in business around the world, as well as policy makers in home and host countries. Those individuals with an interest in international business will find this volume well worthy of their attention.” (Mira Wilkins, Professor of Economics Emeritus, Florida International University)

“This book is a must-read for scholars seeking a deeper, historically informed understanding of international business. It makes a persuasive case for the key role of history in shaping the evolution of international business (IB) as a field of study. Given that many IB phenomena are path-dependent and molded by long-term processes, their thorough analysis requires a historical lens. Organized around the three pillars of an academic field—thought, diffusion, and context—the authors of this volume show how IB theories, teaching practices, and institutional frameworks have co-evolved to shape the discipline. This book is both a testament to IB’s rich legacy and a guide to shaping its future trajectory.” (Chritina Lubinski, Professor of Business History, Copenhagen Business School)

“This is a most welcome, needed, and timely account of the evolution of the International Business (IB) field from its genesis to date. It is a major piece of work and the first comprehensive account of the intertwined triad of scholarly thinking, teaching, and institutions. It addresses the key milestones, issues, and challenges of the field, such as its ‘beginning’ and key landmarks, as seen by leading scholars, whose views are also subject to critical commentaries by other leading scholars. This adds to the project’s significant value, opens a host of developmental opportunities at all parts of the triad and renders the book another milestone of IB evolution.” (Chris Pitelis, Professor of International Business, University of Cambridge)

“A wide-ranging collection of contributions covering the disciplinary history of the field International Business – from its origins to its intellectual development and different communities. Yaprak and Nachum have convened an impressive list of scholars in the field who shed new light on the people, places and organizations that have made this field of study what it is today. The book provides different lenses on IB’s disciplinary history through employing a range of approaches – bibliometrics, analysis of textbooks, archival research, etc. – and framing each chapter through multiple commentaries. The result is a rich and varied take on IB’s history as much as an exploration of how disciplinary histories can be written.” (Stephanie Decker, Professor of Strategy, Birmingham Business School, joint Editor-in-Chief of Business History)

“This book represents an ambitious start on an important subject. The chapters (each with commentaries) are wide ranging. My favourite is Chapter 4. It provides new, fact-filled analysis which demonstrates that International Business has been taught for much longer than previously assumed. A later chapter highlights that IB has a long history in many countries. Perhaps this book will inspire individual scholars to maintain better records of the international business activities within their own institutions and within their own country. There is a real need for greater institutional memory. After all, if we are going to teach the advantages of learning from experience, surely, we should record our own history.” (Paul Beamish, Professor of International Business, Ivey Business School, Western University)

“The Historical Evolution of International Business is a fantastic collective effort to understand the evolution of the scholarly field of international business and its main organization, the Academy of International Business. The volume brings together the discipline’s most outstanding scholars in very engaging chapters that combine their reflections on the field, personal reminiscences, and intellectual analysis. A unique project that will certainly become a model for other disciplines and academic organizations.” (Marcelo Bucheli, Professor of Business Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Newcomen Fellow in business history at Harvard Business School)

“The Academy of International Business has promoted the study of international business as a world-wide endeavour from the early days of post-war liberalisation of international trade and investment. Foreign investment, as defined by the export of capital from advanced economies, is centuries old, dating back to European colonization, but managerial coordination of strategies within a large multinational corporation that researches, produces and markets around the globe is essentially a post-war phenomenon. By bringing together scholars from economics, politics, sociology, psychology, management and organizational studies, and other social sciences, the Academy has led the way in developing theories of multinational enterprise and applying these theories using statistical analysis and case study methodologies. This book provides an authoritative account of these endeavours that will interest scholars from a wide range of disciplines.” (Mark Casson, Professor of Economics, University of Reading)

Lilac Nachum is Professor of International Business at Leeds University Business School, UK. She is an AIB Fellow, and a former Fulbright Scholar to Africa. Her research has been published in the leading academic journals in IB and strategy, where she has also served as a board member and associate editor. She has held visiting positions at business schools around the world. Her views on globalization and multinational companies have been featured frequently in various media outlets.

Attila Yaprak is Professor of Marketing and International Business at the Ilitch Business School at Wayne State University, USA and an AIB Fellow. His research has appeared in the Journal of International Business Studies, the Journal of World Business, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and Political Psychology, among several others. He has taught and held research visits at business schools and trained executives in several countries around the world.