The International Business Unit is part of the Department of Management Sciences in the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. It grew out of a research programme which started eight years ago, and has been undertaken in collaboration with the European Institute of Business Administration at Fontainebleau. The research is now supported by the Social Science Research Council. A small team are investigating various aspects of the decision‐making process in the multinational firm. This article is based on evidence already in the possession of the Unit.