Abstract
This paper operationalizes and tests relationships between a geocentric managerial mind-set, geographic scope and the structural and strategic characteristics of firms and industries. Relationships are tested using data from a survey of senior corporate international HRM managers of large, U.S.-based, manufacturing multinationals. An index of a geocentric mind-set is found to correlate with geographic scope and various aspects of IHRM policy and practice; however, no relationship is found with measures of multinational strategy or organizational structure. The paper concludes with a speculative hypothesis: development of a geocentric mind-set may relate to the information or knowledge intensity of the firm rather than its position on the strategic continuum.
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*Stephen J. Kobrin is William H. Wurster Professor of Multinational Management at the Wharton School and Director of the Joseph H. Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Kobrin, S. Is There a Relationship Between a Geocentric Mind-Set and Multinational Strategy?. J Int Bus Stud 25, 493–511 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490209
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490209