Competition has long been considered a central element of strategy for multinational enterprises in classical foreign direct investment theories. This review evaluates the large and diverse literature on competitive dynamics in international business since Knickerbocker’s (Oligopolistic reaction and the multi-national enterprise, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1973) seminal work on oligopolistic reaction. Specifically, we review the literature on follow-the-leader, awareness–motivation–capability, competitor analysis, and multimarket competition. Our review reveals that competitive interaction in the international context is a multi-arena, multi-player, and multi-level phenomenon. We also identify opportunities for future research, such as deepening the understanding of the micro-foundations of competitive dynamics, incorporating more country-level factors into the analysis of firm-level competitive interactions, broadening the consideration of international stakeholders, and giving greater emphasis to non-market strategies as competitive actions in the global environment. Our review contributes to the development of international business theory by improving our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the execution and consequences of multinational firms’ competitive strategies. Moreover, it enriches the competitive dynamics theory in strategic management by emphasizing the complexities that the international context introduces to competitive interactions among firms.

在经典的外国直接投资理论中，竞争长期以来一直被认为是跨国企业战略的核心要素。本综述评估了自 Knickerbocker（寡头垄断反应和跨国企业，麻省理工学院出版社，剑桥，1973 年）关于寡头垄断反应的开创性著作以来，有关国际商业竞争动态的大量且多样化的文献。具体来说，我们回顾了有关追随领导者、意识-动机-能力、竞争对手分析和多市场竞争的文献。我们的回顾表明，国际背景下的竞争互动是一种多领域、多主体、多层次的现象。我们还确定了未来研究的机会，例如加深对竞争动态微观基础的理解，将更多国家层面的因素纳入企业层面竞争互动的分析，扩大国际利益相关者的考虑，以及更加重视非市场战略作为全球环境中的竞争行为。我们的评论通过提高我们对跨国公司竞争战略执行和后果的机制的理解，有助于国际商业理论的发展。此外，它通过强调国际环境给企业之间的竞争互动带来的复杂性，丰富了战略管理中的竞争动态理论。