IBM Finland, a
small national subsidiary, was at once a Finnish business and an
interface to much larger networks of technological innovation and
knowledge sharing. We contextualize its development within a nested set
of institutions and identities: IBM's Nordic operations, its European
business, and its World Trade Corporation. Its development was
profoundly shaped by Finland's unique geopolitical position during the
Cold War. IBM's internal structures anticipated and paralleled those of
the European Union, with mechanisms for international cooperation, for
the creation of transnational identities, and for the resolution and
regulation of disputes between national subsidiaries.