A regional solution to the strategy and structure of multinationals

SummaryThe transnational solution developed by Bartlett and Ghoshal is shown to be suitable for only a few special cases of multinational enterprise (MNE) strategy and structure. As MNEs have most of their assets and sales within their home region, they are in need of regional, not transnational strategy and structure. Here we provide data on the regional dimension of assets and sales of the world’s largest 500 multinationals. We explore how the empirical reality of a regional concentration of assets and sales imposes a regional solution, rather than the transnational solution.