Louis Truitt Wells, Jr. is an American organizational theorist, principal consultant and Emeritus Professor of International Management at the Harvard Business School, known for his work on management of multinationals, and their economic environment.
Life and work
Born in Nashville, Tennessee to Louis Truitt Wells and Lila Wilson Wells, Wells obtained his BA in Physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and his MBA in 1963 and his DBA in 1966 from the Harvard Business School. After graduation Wells started his academic career as Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, and eventually was appointed Herbert F. Johnson Professor of International Management. Over the years he has been principal consultant to "governments of a number of developing countries, as well as to international organizations and private firms. His principal consulting activities have been concerned with foreign investment policy and with negotiations between foreign investors and host governments." Wells was visiting professor at Harvard Institute for International Development in Jakarta, Indonesia in the year 1994-95, and was also Coordinator for Indonesia Projects. He was elected Fellow of the Academy of International Business. His research interests are in the fields of "multinational enterprises; international business-government relations; foreign investment in developing countries; and foreign investment by firms from developing countries."
Selected publications
Stopford, John M., and Louis T. Wells. Managing the multinational enterprise: Organization of the firm and ownership of the subsidiaries. Vol. 2. New York: Basic Books, 1972.
Vernon, Raymond, and Louis T. Wells. Manager in the international economy..
Wells, Louis T. Third world multinationals: The rise of foreign investments from developing countries.MIT Press Books 1.
Vernon, Raymond, and Louis T. Wells. The economic environment of international business.Prentice Hall, 1991.
Wells, Louis T., and Alvin G. Wint. Marketing a country: promotion as a tool for attracting foreign investment.International Finance Corporation, 1999.
