Abstract: Managers have long assumed that the best way to capitalize on opportunities abroad is to ally with local companies. These partners already know the market, are willing to share the investment expense, and can curry favor with local governments. But in a study of more than 3,000 American transnational corporations, it was found that these companies are increasingly opting to go it alone. That's a surprising shift, given the popular rhetoric on the importance of alliances. But that rhetoric misses a key point about the evolution of transnational corporations. As they've become more global, these companies have broken up their value chains, relocating various parts of their production processes to different countries.