STRATEGIES FOR GLOBAL RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT

Increasingly, multinational enterprises face simultaneous pressures fo r global integration and local responsiveness. Both management theoris ts and managers believe that, to respond to this challenge, the intern ational company should be managed as a coordinated network. This model insists on the relevance of an international innovation network, on g lobal management of technology, and on the capability to leverage the ''best'' elements of each location to global benefit. This implies tha t companies disperse their R&D facilities in different countries to a much larger extent than in the past. An R&D structure should be design ed to fulfill three main tasks: constituent technology development, pr oduct development and technical support to other functions. The driver s of internationalization, the locational determinants, and the manage ment processes are unique to each task.