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Management article
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Reference no. 92605
Authors: Andrew Hilton
Published by: Harvard Business Publishing
Published in: "Harvard Business Review", 1992

Abstract

The rhetoric of European unification is still powerful for many Americans and Europeans who want to believe in the European superstate of 1992. However, as recent events show, much of the mythology of Europe is indeed a myth. Nationalism in Western Europe is still alive, and few European companies have gone beyond the rhetoric of a single market. The course of European integration will be, at best, messy and riddled with reverses. Across Europe, overambitious financial institutions, for instance, are retreating into domestic markets after costly cross-border mistakes. Europe is and will remain a mosaic of national markets; the reality is that the odds in Europe will be stacked against the outsider. The lesson for U.S. managers is to be careful before falling for the myth of a unified Europe.

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Abstract

The rhetoric of European unification is still powerful for many Americans and Europeans who want to believe in the European superstate of 1992. However, as recent events show, much of the mythology of Europe is indeed a myth. Nationalism in Western Europe is still alive, and few European companies have gone beyond the rhetoric of a single market. The course of European integration will be, at best, messy and riddled with reverses. Across Europe, overambitious financial institutions, for instance, are retreating into domestic markets after costly cross-border mistakes. Europe is and will remain a mosaic of national markets; the reality is that the odds in Europe will be stacked against the outsider. The lesson for U.S. managers is to be careful before falling for the myth of a unified Europe.

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