Reconceptualising Hierarchies: The Disaggregation and Dispersion of Headquarters in Multinational Corporations

Abstract

In this paper, we provide an introduction to the Special Issue entitled 'Divide and Rule? The Emergence and Implications of Increasingly Disaggregated and Dispersed Headquarters Activities in Contemporary Firms'. The purpose is two-fold. First, we propose a conceptualization of headquarters activities as a dynamic system in which activities can be distributed organizationally and spatially. We explicitly break with the dominant view of the prior research on 'the headquarters' as a single, identifiable unit in one specific location. Second, building on the manuscripts accepted for publication in this Special Issue, we outline research implications and put forward an agenda for research on the emergence and continuous management of disaggregated and dispersed headquarters systems.

Strategy processes and practices: Dialogues and intersections

“…The articles by Koamé and Langley and Mirabeau, McGuire, and Hardy in this special issue provide good guidance on how researchers could deal better methodologically with issues relating to temporality when studying strategy processes. This need for further research on temporality in strategy process and practice research coincides well with other recent calls for more work on time and temporality, for example, in research on strategic change (Kunisch, Bartunek, Mueller, & Huy, ), acquisitions and alliances (Shi, Sun, & Prescott, ), and the changing role of headquarters in multinational corporations (Nell, Kappen, & Laamanen, ).…”

Innovation Offshoring, Institutional Context and Innovation Performance: A Meta‐Analysis

“…Fifth and related to point four, multinational organizations seem to be moving away from the one-headquarter model. 'Disaggregated and dispersed headquarter systems' (Nell et al, 2017(Nell et al, , p. 1121) may lead to different IO practices affecting knowledge transfer between locations and knowledge integration throughout the multinational organization (Nell et al, 2017). Primary empirical research could examine how moving the location of headquarters, a move from a single headquarter to a dispersed headquarter system, or © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies further disaggregation of a headquarter system affect knowledge transfer and integration processes in IO.…”

Beyond Simple Configurations: The Dual Involvement of Divisional and Corporate Headquarters in Subsidiary Innovation Activities in Multibusiness Firms

“…In fact, while much is known of individual headquarters and their activities, we are witnessing an increase in the complexity of what could be named complex headquarters systems (Nell et al 2017). For example, Desai (2009Desai ( , p. 1284 formulates that we are now witnessing firms that are ''Bermuda-incorporated, Parisheadquartered (…), listed on the NYSE [New York Stock Exchange] with US-style investor protections and disclosure rules, a chief information officer in Bangalore, a chief finance officer in Brussels and a chief operating officer in Beijing''.…”

“…Goold and Campbell (2002) are among the first to highlight that parenting in complex organizations usually goes hand in hand with a more complex structure of parenting itself. For example, in complex organizations, parenting activities are often allocated to several headquarters (Alfoldi et al 2012;Birkinshaw et al 2006;Nell et al 2017) or even to subsidiaries (e.g., Centers of Excellence, cf., Frost et al 2002). Furthermore, complex organizations experience that multiple headquarters simultaneously interact with a particular subsidiary when they attempt to add value.…”