Managing the Contemporary Multinational: The Role of Headquarters

333 Pages·2010·2.74 MB·English

by  Ulf M Andersson

Managing the Contemporary Multinational
NEW HORIZONS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Series Editor: Peter J. Buckley
Centre for International Business,
University of Leeds (CIBUL), UK
The New Horizons in International Business series has established itself as the world’s leading
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Managing the Contemporary Multinational
The Role of Headquarters
Edited by Ulf Andersson and Ulf Holm
Managing the
Contemporary
Multinational
The Role of Headquarters
Edited by
Ulf Andersson
Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
Ulf Holm
Uppsala University, Sweden
NEW HORIZONS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Edward Elgar
Cheltenham, UK • Northampton, MA, USA
© Ulf Andersson and Ulf Holm 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical or photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior
permission of the publisher.
Published by
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited
The Lypiatts
15 Lansdown Road
Cheltenham
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UK
Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc.
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A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009937925
ISBN 978 1 84844 807 0
Printed and bound by MPG Books Group, UK
2
0
Contents
List of fi gures vii
List of tables viii
List of contributors ix
Preface and acknowledgements xi
1. Introduction and overview 1
Ulf Andersson and Ulf Holm
PART I HEADQUARTERS’ ROLE AND STRUCTURES
OF THE MULTINATIONAL
2. Beyond heterarchy: emerging futures of the hypermodern
MNC 33
Ivo Zander and John A. Mathews
3. The role of headquarters in the global factory 60
Peter J. Buckley
4. Commander- in- chief or absentee landlord? Key perspectives
on headquarters in multinational corporations 85
Wilhelm Barner- Rasmussen, Rebecca Piekkari,
Joanna Scott- Kennel and Catherine Welch
5. Evaluating the role of parent HQ in a contemporary MNC 106
William G. Egelhoff
PART II HEADQUARTERS’ MONITORING AND VALUE-
CREATING ROLES
6. A critical assessment of the business network perspective on
HQ control in multinational companies 125
Mohammad Yamin and Pervez N. Ghauri
7. Governance costs in headquarters–subsidiary relationships 138
Gabriel R.G. Benito and Sverre Tomassen
8. Headquarters’ potential value- adding by cherry- picking
sub- unit technology development projects 160
Ulf Andersson and Philip Kappen
v
vi Managing the contemporary multinational
9. Determinants of HQs’ involvement in innovation transfer 182
Francesco Ciabuschi and Oscar Martín Martín
10. Internal versus external knowledge sourcing of subsidiaries
and the impact of headquarters control 211
Jens Gammelgaard and Torben Pedersen
11. Managing the transfer of externally embedded subsidiary
knowledge: the role of headquarters’ control mechanisms 231
Christine Holmström
12. The role of national culture in the headquarters–subsidiary
relationship in the multinational corporation: the eff ect of
power distance 254
Rian Drogendijk and Ulf Holm
PART III A DIALOGUE ABOUT THE UPPSALA MODEL
OF INTERNATIONALIZATION
13. A dialogue about the Uppsala model of internationalization 283
Mats Forsgren and Jan Johanson
14. The Uppsala model of internationalization: a comment 305
Peter J. Buckley
Index 311
Figures
2.1 Four subtypes of hypermodern MNCs 43
3.1 The global factory 61
3.2 ‘Hub and spoke’ strategies: an example 62
3.3 The information structure of the global factory 63
3.4 Phases of the external integration process 64
3.5 Information fl ows in the multinational fi rm 67
3.6 Frecknall’s sequential affi liate business models 76
4.1 Key perspectives on MNC headquarters: interrelations
and order of emergence 86
7.1 Governance costs in international operations 141
7.2 Relationships between types of governance costs 154
8.1 An example of diff erent types of technologies in the sample 167
9.1 Determinants of HQs’ involvement in the innovation
transfer at unit level 188
9.2 Estimation of the model and results 197
10.1 The relationship between internal and external knowledge
sourcing 224
11.1 The four hypothesized relationships 239
12.1 Headquarters’ and subsidiaries’ acceptance of power
diff erences 260
12.2 Summary of hypotheses 265
12.3 Sub- samples for each of the four situations 271
vii
Tables
4.1 Comparing four perspectives on MNC headquarters 90
5.1 Characteristics of network organization structure as
applied to the MNC 108
5.2 Key areas where hierarchical structures are superior to
network structures for providing intrafi rm coordination 111
8.1 Correlation matrix: Pearson correlations 173
8.2 Proportional hazard regressions 174
8A.1 The sampled fi rms, divisions and sub- units 181
9.1 First- order latent variables operationalization 195
9.2 Item and construct reliability and average variance
extracted for fi rst- order refl ective constructs 198
9.3 Item weights and multicollinearity tests for the formative
construct 199
9.4 Latent variables: correlations and square root of the
average variance extracted (AVE) 200
9.5 Endogenous variables: direct, indirect and total eff ects,
explained variances and Stone– Geisser Q2 test 201
10.1 Sample size and subsidiary employees in the diff erent
countries 219
10.2 OLS regression: internal knowledge sources of subsidiaries
as the dependent variable 223
10.3 OLS regression with split sample: internal knowledge
sources of subsidiaries as the dependent variable 225
11.1 Correlations between control variables and independent
variables 244
11.2 Results of the regression analysis for transfer of subsidiary
knowledge 245
11A.1 Characteristics of the sample 253
12.1 Parameter estimates, dependent variable: HQ impact on
subsidiary competence development 272
12.2 Results of the ANCOVA test; pairwise comparison of four
power diff erence acceptance situations 273
12A.1 Power distance scores of the countries in which the HQs of
sample subsidiaries are located 280
viii
Contributors
Ulf Andersson, Professor of Strategy and International Management,
Center for Strategic Management and Globalization, Copenhagen
Business School.
Wilhelm Barner-R asmussen, Assistant Professor, Department of
Management and Organization, Hanken School of Economics.
Gabriel R.G. Benito, Professor of International Strategy, Department of
Strategy and Logistics, BI Norwegian School of Management.
Peter J. Buckley, Professor of International Business, CIBUL, University
of Leeds.
Francesco Ciabuschi, Associate Professor, Department of Business Studies,
Uppsala University.
Rian Drogendijk, Associate Professor, Department of Business Studies,
Uppsala University.
William G. Egelhoff , Professor of Management Systems, Fordham Business
School.
Mats Forsgren, Professor Emeritus, Department of Business Studies,
Uppsala University.
Jens Gammelgaard, Associate Professor, Department of International
Economics and Management, Copenhagen Business School.
Pervez N. Ghauri, Professor of International Business, Kings College
London.
Ulf Holm, Professor of International Business, Department of Business
Studies, Uppsala University.
Christine Holmström, Assistant Professor, Department of Business Studies,
Uppsala University.
Jan Johanson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Business Studies,
Uppsala University.
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