The Ontology of International Business: A Comment on International Business: An Emerging Vision
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Ontology Comment
of on
International
Business:
International
Business:
An
Emerging
Vision DanielSullivan*
UNIVERSITYOF DELAWARE
In
late 1997, the University of South Carolinapress published International Business: An Emerging Vision, and in 1998 a review of Professor John Stopford appeared in this journal (Volume 29, Number 3). The present comment adds to this debate by considering the book in terms of its report on the structureand sociology of the ontology of International Business (IB). In this comment, particularly with respect to framing the book's implicit suggestion of perhaps the only meta paradigm that IB can aspire to achieve, I consider Stopford's statements and their implications. International Business: An Emerging Vision - a state of the union assessment
- fills a glaring gap in the contemporary IB literature. This text is the first of a two-volume series on the state of IB scholarship and research traditions (Volume 1) and institutions and pedagogy (Volume 2; forthcoming). The mandate of Volume 1, Toyne and Nigh (1997, p. 27) state, was to address the
purpose and practice of IB scholarship in order to inform the "conceptual
boundaries of IB, the phenomena and relationships researched, and the ontological and epistemological assumptions made when building this conceptual domain." The coverage of these issues establishes this text as a potential turning point in the evolution of IB studies. First off, there are two principal types of reports in the book. First, chapters 1, 2, 11, and 12 profile
and debate the
ontological commitments, intellectual priorities, and theoretical preoccupations for the IB field as a whole. These chapters present a series of arguments for the synthesis of abstractions that transcend individuals, organizations, institutions, nations, and markets. Throughout these debates, discussion swirls about the possibility and appropriateness of an overarching theoretical frameworkthat would guide IB research in ways that would let us systematically ask questions, test concepts, and relate findings. Second, the remaining chapters consider in sequence specialized international perspectives in Business and Society, Economics, Politics,
*Daniel Sullivan has published reports in, among others, the Journal of International Business Studies, Management International Review, Law and Society Review, and Academy of Management Journal. In addition, he has earned numerous teaching honors, notably the Outstanding Teacher award from five consecutive Executive MBA classes. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, 29, 4 (FOURTH QUARTER 1998): 877-886.
877
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THE ONTOLOGY OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Organizational Theory, Organization Behavior, Strategic Management, Marketing, and Finance. Professors Toyne and Nigh introduce each chapter with an astute overview of the associated topic papers, commentaries, and occasional reply. Cha
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