ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on research methodology and takes an integral systems perspective of firm internalisation theory, incorporating macro-level political, meso-level economic stakeholder influence and micro-level group level perspectives. It illustrates how an application of the perspectives of the Pronoun Reference System found in language in use in the elements of the Uppsala model (UM) can help broaden the UM&Apos;s application to the multifaceted, multi-levelled context of the European business environment (EuBE) in studying integrated firm strategy. The chapter outlines European integration theories, traces the thought evolution of the UM and presents a unified systemic perspective of firm-institution co-evolution in a conceptual visualisation framework labelled the Gotheborg IV model. Similar to neofunctionalism, intergovernmentalism is a macro-level theory that explains deepening European integration. The focus of Multi-level governance is to study and understand the complexity of European integration efforts and its various actors, pegged at multiple levels of analysis.
