The Logic of International Restructuring: The Management of Dependencies in Rival Industrial Complexes

The Logic of International Restructuringargues that an international restructuring race is evolving and is likely to intensify over the coming years. The race is understod as a race between industrial complex rather than between individual firms. Industrial complexes are bargaining networks organized by large core firms consisting of suppliers, distributors/dealers, governments, financiers and trade unions. Ruigrok and van Tulder identify five distinct ways according to which a core firm may organize its relationship with its bargaining partners. Each of these ways is unique in the sense that they have their own bargaining logic. This implies that it is very difficult for a company to successfully adopt isolated parts of what appear to be "winning formulas" or "best-practices" at a given moment. According toThe Logic of International Restructuring, this logic is extended abroad. When a company establishes international activities, it seeks to emulate itsdomestice restructuring pattern. Ruigok and van Tulder identify a series of rival internationalism strategies which follow from the logic of domestic restructuring. Theses rival internationalism strategies, in turn, each have different implications for the flows of international trade. While some strategies depend heavily on global free trade regime, others actually advance the formation of regional trade blockings. The Logic of International Restructuringaddresses many current debates on post-Fordism, globalisation and lean production. They present an abundance of new and historical data on the world's one hundred largest companies. These data show that not one of the largest core firms is truly "global" or "borderless" and that virtually all of them in their history have benefitted decisively from governmental trade or industrial policies.