ABSTRACT
Business history has shown how multinationals through their evolving organizational forms have contributed to the expansion and impact of global business. It can contribute to international business theory by reviewing the difficulties of realizing strategies; illuminating the diversity of multinational organization; and evaluating the wide-ranging contextual factors that influence multinational operations. The role of multinationals in the global economy is reviewed from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. Business history can offer insights into the changing complexities of government-multinational relations, and into the economic, political, and social impact of international business.
