ABSTRACT
In this chapter we examine the extent to which manufacturing firms are adopting a global approach to research and technology development. If the concept of a new international division of labour was once a useful shorthand to describe the changing geography of manufacturing worldwide, the internationalization of core R&D functions suggests the advent of a new phase in the ongoing globalization of manufacturing systems. We take as our point of departure in this regard what Hirst and Thompson (1996) characterize as the ‘strong’ thesis of globalization. In other words, we draw a strong distinction between the continuing internationalization of economic processes and a structural shift towards a global economy. While the two ideal types of internationalization and globalization are multi-faceted, we place particular emphasis upon the difference between a multinational and a transnational firm, and upon the organization and geography of the firm. It is commonly asserted that manufacturing firms with global reach have shed their allegiance to any home country and are now beginning to make investment decisions for R&D and other core business operations on a global scale. And yet the evidence for a truly global, as opposed to an international, approach to R&D remains limited (Angel and Savage, 1996; Casson and Singh, 1993).
