Purpose

The aim of this study is to propose a link between international business (IB) and economic geography, which are two streams of thought that have developed without one acknowledging the other. We use the Uppsala model and the Global Production Network as pillars to sustain this link. We expect that this research triggers a collaboration with allied social sciences in important debates surrounding the business-societal interface.

Design/methodology/approach

We selected papers produced by Johanson and Vahlne to understand the development of the Uppsala model over 40 years. The same was done with the Global Production Network, where we scrutinized the work of Henderson, Coe, Dicken, Hess and Yeung – scholars from the Manchester School of Geography – in the last twenty years. Based on Humphrey et al. (2019), we applied an inductive and inferential approach to uncover similarities and differences between the Uppsala model and Global Production Network.

Findings

The Uppsala model reinforces the strategic role of network position in the internationalization process, while the Global Production Network aims to explain how the governance of global firms scattered world-wide affects the development and upgrading opportunities of the various regions and firms involved. Despite these clear differences, the geographical nature of IB and shared similarities accounting the network as a channel to foster and provide access to important resources and practices regarding management, coordination and governance of dispersed parts of multinational enterprises give room to using these two theories as pillars to link IB and economic geography.

Originality/value

While attempts to link IB and economic geography are not new, none of these studies have focused on the Uppsala model and Global Production Network as pillars to create a link. We foresee an intense cross collaboration and an even possible renaissance of IB and economic geography to target the ever-changing business environment and its impact on social and economic development.

中文翻译：

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不同的根源，交织的分支：通过乌普萨拉模型和全球生产网络连接国际商业和经济地理

目的

本研究的目的是提出国际商业 (IB) 和经济地理学之间的联系，这是两个在没有承认另一个的情况下发展起来的思想流。我们使用乌普萨拉模式和全球生产网络作为支柱来维持这种联系。我们预计这项研究会引发与相关社会科学在围绕商业-社会界面的重要辩论中的合作。

设计/方法/方法

我们选择了 Johanson 和 Vahlne 发表的论文来了解乌普萨拉模型 40 多年来的发展。全球生产网络也是如此，我们仔细研究了曼彻斯特地理学院的学者 Henderson、Coe、Dicken、Hess 和 Yeung 在过去 20 年的工作。基于汉弗莱等人。（2019 年），我们应用归纳和推理方法来揭示乌普萨拉模型和全球生产网络之间的异同。

发现

乌普萨拉模型强化了网络地位在国际化进程中的战略作用，而全球生产网络旨在解释分散在世界各地的全球企业的治理如何影响各个地区和企业的发展和升级机会。尽管存在这些明显差异，但 IB 的地理性质和将网络视为促进和提供获取有关跨国企业分散部分的管理、协调和治理的重要资源和实践的渠道的共享相似性为使用这两种理论作为支柱提供了空间将IB和经济地理联系起来。

原创性/价值

虽然将 IB 和经济地理联系起来的尝试并不新鲜，但这些研究都没有将乌普萨拉模型和全球生产网络作为建立联系的支柱。我们预见到IB和经济地理的紧密交叉合作甚至可能复兴，以针对不断变化的商业环境及其对社会和经济发展的影响。