Summary: Publisher Summary 1 Based upon their case studies of nine multinational corporations (MNCs) and surveys of the CEOs of 63 North American and European MNCs, Nohria (Harvard Business School) and Ghoshal (London Business School) provide empirically-grounded organizational theory for how such corporations can flourish in the global economy. Building upon the product cycle theory of Vernon (1966), which proposes that the ability to innovate is the raison d'etre of MNCs, the authors contend that successful MNCs require intra- and inter-subsidiary differentiation and integration of values and functioning to optimize use of resources, foster knowledge exchange, and innovation counter to traditional hierarchical organizations. Methodological appendix. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.   Publisher Summary 2 Discover a Breakthrough Model for MNCs In a dynamic global economy, multinational corporations (MNCs) face certain competitive challenges that traditional, hierarchical hub and spoke organizations simply aren't geared to meet. But in this landmark work, Harvard Business School professor Nitin Nohria and London Business School Professor Sumantra Ghoshal present a viable alternative -- the differentiated network. Writing for managers seeking changes in their administrative systems that boost firm performance, and for academics engaged in research organization design, the authors detail how the competitive MNC can fully tap the value creation potential of its globally distributed capabilities.