A review of Jean Boddewyn's contributions to the theory of international business-government relations

Jean Boddewyn has contributed to the literature on international business-government relations in a variety of contexts, from the conceptualization of the process of such relations to the identification of corporate strategies for managing government relations. His style is typically to attribute his insights to others but, upon careful reading of his work, it becomes evident that his advances to the understanding of government- multinational enterprise relations are quite significant. For example, he was among the first to recognize the dynamic nature of the relationship, which leads to changes in strategy/policy based on underlying conditions, motivating factors, and precipitating circumstances. He has been a leader in presenting the relationship as one that companies can manage in order to develop a competitive advantage relative to rival firms who are not as good at dealing with governments.