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We introduce the notion of attention dissonance, where the subsidiary within a headquarter-subsidiary relationship feels that headquarters’ attention at the cognitive level, reflected in its strategic intentions (attention perspective), is not aligned with the routine actions the headquarters performs vis-à-vis the specific subsidiary (attention engagement). Using a comparative case study design, we investigate a European organization with subsidiaries located in both emerging and advanced markets. We show how subsidiaries in the emerging markets face attention dissonance, which impedes their ability to get business opportunities across to headquarters, thereby compromising a necessary condition for realizing economic potential in these emerging markets.

This paper addresses Chinese outward foreign direct investments (OFDI) in Europe. We aim to provide more knowledge on the ongoing research discussion about Chinese OFDI, more specifically, we answer questions about what is driving Chinese firms to invest in Europe, and whether Chinese investment behaviour in Europe differs compared with their investments in other parts of the world. For our empirical study we use data from the 2012 statistical bulletin of Chinese OFDI, 20032012. Our results indicate that European countries generally receive lower levels of investment from Chinese firms compared with other regions of the world. We find, furthermore, that the main motives for Chinese investment in Europe are market seeking and strategic asset seeking, and that there are large differences among European countries in attracting Chinese investments.