Remaking the Multinational Corporation: Geographically Dispersed Unbundling and Intangible Assets

Abstract

Over the past decades, we have observed the emergence of multinational corporations (MNCs) that are increasingly characterized by their high levels of unbundling and geographic dispersion of their activities and by their greater reliance on intangible (vs. tangible) assets. We develop a novel typology of MNCs on the basis of these two characteristics and explore how different types of MNCs have been exposed and are likely to respond to the slowdown in the global economic integration since the 2008 global financial crisis. We argue that the degree to which MNCs have unbundled and geographically dispersed their activities and their reliance on intangible (vs. tangible) assets will affect the risks associated with cross-border transfers of goods and services and with holding overseas assets. We advance the international business (IB) literature and contribute to the global strategy literature by using our novel typology to examine MNCs’ exposure and their likely response to deglobalization pressures.