The economy’s entry into its globalisation phase has radically altered the nature of competition. Now, numerous new actors from every market in the world (see section 1 and summary table) are simultaneously in competition on every market. This new competition has accentuated the interdependence of the different levels of globalisation (trade in goods and services, direct investment, technology transfers, capital movements), with direct investment becoming a central factor in the process of industrial restructuring and the development of genuine world industries.

To contend with the challenges of globalisation, firms have altered their strategies, strengthening the activities in which they were in a dominant position (refocusing), seeking to achieve critical size and attaching priority to external growth (mergers and acquisitions). At the same time, they have multiplied the number of co-operation agreements and alliances and changed their internal organisation. Globalisation has ...