Comparative strategic management (CSM) has not yet received adequate attention in international management (Mudambi and Swift, 2011-this issue). This deficiency becomes more critical as strategic decisions exert greater and more enduring consequences than functional issues on a firm's long-term growth and performance. Further, firm capabilities and strategies are often inherited, incubated, or inhibited by a unique set of institutional, competitive and socio-cultural environments of the country in which the firm operates.