The footloose companies are those that have relatively few constraints when making location decisions. In this paper they are classified into four categories: Company headquarters, high technology, research and development, and services. A general model provides a framework for the exposition and for conceptualizing the processes used by companies in these industries when they are required to make a location decision. The model incorporates the following comuonents: The role of relocation consultants; the process by which final decision is made; development of needs criteria that guide the location selection decision and their prioritization: the Concepts of awareness set and evoked set; and information sources used to evaluate alternative locations. The paper was developed with inputs from three sources: a review of the professional and scientific literature; in-depth unstructured telephone interviews with representatives of eight companies recently mvolved in a location decision; and responses to structured questionaires completed by senior personnel from 91 economic development organizations in Texas; knowledgeable representatives of 41 footloose companies who located in Texas in the past five years, and representatives of 13 relocation consultant firms. 1993 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
