In this paper, we argue that a fruitful approach to the analysis of inter-organisational power in multinational corporations (MNCs) is to model the organisation as a federation. In the federative MNC, the headquarters and the subsidiaries are involved in a perpetual bargaining process. Thus a crucial issue is what power bases are there that the different actors in the federative MNC can use to influence strategic decisions. In this paper, we focus on the power bases associated with the local business network in which the different subsidiaries are embedded, and on the headquarters' knowledge concerning these networks. A causal model is developed and tested with data from 97 subsidiaries in 20 MNC divisions. The results indicate that the strength and influence of a subsidiary's local business network are determined by the extent to which the subsidiary provides technology within the MNC. The fact that the business network is strong does not suffice to augment the intra-organisational power of a subsidiary. In addition, our investigation also provides support for the idea that, when the headquarters has a sound knowledge of the subsidiaries' business networks, it is better able to balance or moderate the influence of strong subsidiaries. The paper concludes by pointing out a potential dilemma facing the headquarters of the federative MNC: externally embedded subsidiaries can provide access to a variety of competencies, but they may also reduce the subsidiaries' interest in contributing to the overall performance of the MNC.
This paper is part of a research project with its main focus on Swedish multinational companies. The purpose of the project is to study the tension between parent companies in Sweden and a number of subsidiaries, chiefly located in Europe. Our aims are to find what constitutes the strength of the subsidiaries, and what possibilities do they have to influence the corporate strategy. The presented model outlines the background for an empirical study which will be conducted during 1991. The model recognizes four groups of variables, all of which reflect different aspects of a subsidiary's relative base of power. The project is partly financed by The Swedish Council for Management and Work Life Issues.
We compare two theoretical perspectives on the knowledge situation of headquarters (HQ) in multinational corporations: the bounded rationality perspective and the sheer ignorance perspective. We claim that these perspectives lead to different expectations when it comes to HQ's role and the effects of HQ involvement in innovation processes at the subsidiary level. More specifically, we examine the impact of HQ involvement on the efficiency of 71 subsidiary innovation projects. The findings show that HQ involvement in innovation development and transfer has a negative rather than a positive impact on efficiency in both processes. We contribute by showing and suggesting that the sheer ignorance perspective might provide a more accurate portrayal of the HQ knowledge situation than the bounded rationality perspective does. This study furthers understanding of the role of HQ in the contemporary, knowledge-creating multinational.
The purpose of this study is to test the assumptions of the headquarters parenting advantage in multinational firms within the context of subsidiary innovation processes. Specifically, we explore the relationship between the selective involvement of headquarters in both innovation development and transfer processes and their related performance in a data set of 85 innovation projects analysed with structural equation modelling. The findings provide only limited support to the parenting advantage logic as they show that although the headquarters are able to select subsidiary-level strategic innovation processes, their involvement is hampering the performance of these processes. Consequently, we offer new extensions to the reasoning behind the parenting advantage logic by introducing four complementary theoretical explanations for the potentially harmful effects of headquarters' involvement in subsidiary innovation-related activities.
In their article from 2009, Johanson and Vahlne suggest a reformulation of the Uppsala internationalization process model by incorporating business network theory and entrepreneurship theory into the model. The present paper makes a critical examination of this reformulation. The overall conclusion is that several issues have to be addressed regarding the relationship between business networks and firms’ internationalization, the meaning of entrepreneurship as well as the possibility to combine business network theory and entrepreneurship theory in the Uppsala model before the full potential of such an incorporation can be realized.