The papers in this Special Issue show that a new theory of international management built to explain regional-level strategy and structure is required. Internationalization is a well-understood concept at the macro-level: it refers to the increasing economic interdependence among nations. Unfortunately, in the past two decades, many authors from academia and the public policy sphere have made a conceptual quantum leap, equating internationalization with globalization, i.e., the idea that the world is a fully integrated market place. The problem with such a perspective on globalization is that it assumes away the necessity of selectivity in internationalization. Such selectivity is to some extent introduced at the macro-level, but even more importantly, selectivity in internationalization is mainly a firm-driven phenomenon.

Alan Rugman is Director of the Center for International Business Education & Research and Professor of Management, Business Economics and Public Policy at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana Univ., Bloomington, USA.
Alain Verbeke is Professor of International Business Strategy, McCaig Chair in Management, Department of Strategy & Global Management, Haskayne School of Business, Faculty of Management, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.