Knowledge in international firms and networks: the Institute of International Business at the Stockholm School of Economics

The Institute of International Business (IIB) is a research and education center at the Stockholm School of Economics. From its humble beginnings in 1976, IIB has systematically built a trans-discipliary research environment with an extended international network. IIB's research on the multinational corporation (MNC) has centered around two research questions: 1) How should MNCs be organized and managed to be successful? and 2) What are the reasons behind MNC success? Empirical studies of intra-organizational phenomena created an MNC image from which the concept of a knowledge-based view of the firm gradually emerged. We argue that the overarching logic of IIB's research on knowledge in international firms and networks emanates from exposure to international top managers and owners, and from studying processes in technology-based multinationals. IIB has benefited greatly from faculty cooperation, instead of competition, thus ilustrating the knowledge-based theories assertion that knowledge is generated by recombination in social communities with shared identity. European Management Review (2006) 3, 199-210. doi:10.1057/palgrave.emr.1500063