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Processes of regional trade integration may have an important impact on firms' strategies and forms of organization. This article provides an empirical case study of the impact of regional trade integration in the Andean Pact in the 1990s on the strategies and organization of British American Tobacco (BAT), using internal tobacco industry documents. BAT conducted an integrated strategy by lobbying on tax and tariff rates and intellectual property regulations, whilst simultaneously adapting its market strategies and attempting to modify its internal organization. The company incorporated substantial sales in illicit markets into its strategy, and launched new legal export operations within the region, in part to assert ownership over contested trademarks. It attempted to significantly modify its internal organization by better integrating its national operating companies on a regional basis, but was only partially successful in this due to resistance from its powerful Brazilian subsidiary. Changes in intellectual property rules also intensified competition between BAT and its main competitor, Philip Morris, culminating in a legal dispute between the two firms and leading BAT to develop a more coherent strategy on trademark ownership. These findings raise implications for understanding, and regulating, tobacco industry activities worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tobacco market liberalization can have a profound impact on health. This article analyzes internal documents of British American Tobacco (BAT), released as a result of litigation in the United States, in order to examine the company's attempts to influence negotiations over China's accession to the World Trade Organization. The documents demonstrate that BAT attempted to influence these negotiations through a range of mechanisms, including personal access of BAT employees and lobbyists to policymakers; employment of former civil servants from key U. K. government departments; use of organized business groups such as the Multinational Chairmen's Group and the European Round Table; and participation and leadership in forums organized by Chatham House. These processes contributed to significant concessions on the liberalization of the tobacco market in China, although the failure to break the Chinese state monopoly over the manufacture and distribution of cigarettes has ensured that foreign tobacco companies' share of the Chinese market has remained small. World Trade Organization accession has nevertheless led to a profound restructuring of the Chinese tobacco industry in anticipation of foreign competition, which may result in more market-based and internationally oriented Chinese tobacco firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]