In this work, Professors Stopford and Strange explore the mutual interdependence of states and firms. They show how global structural changes often impel governments to seek the cooperation of managers of multinational enterprises, but within the constraints of each country’s economic resources, social structures and history. Using research into the experience of over fifty multinationals and one hundred investment projects in Brazil, Malaysia and Kenya, the authors develop a matrix of agendas. They present the impact on projects of the multiple factors affecting the bargaining relationships between the government and the foreign firm at different times and in a variety of economic sectors.