“The Most Public Secret”: Concealing and Silencing Ethnocentrism in the MNC

Storgaard, Marianne; Tienari, Janne; Piekkari, Rebecca

doi:10.1108/s1571-502720140000027027

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Finally, the centrality of the home country culture and language also influences HQ actors’ firm-specific cultural capital endowment (Levy et al, 2015). In hierarchical architecture, elements of corporate culture and national culture are intertwined and mixed with each other (Storgaard et al, 2014), and consequently firm-specific cultural capital involves elements of the home country. Therefore, HQ actors’ adeptness in the MNC’s home country culture, values and language is an important source of firm-specific cultural capital.…”

Section: Cultural Capital and The Production Of Social Hierarchy Undementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, the definition of the legitimate firm-specific cultural capital is likely to become more inclusive, thereby diminishing the impact of the HQ and the home country. Even though the home country culture may continue to exert influence over firm-specific cultural capital, its influence is now considered as less legitimate and therefore often concealed and framed in more neutral terms as ‘corporate culture’ and ‘discipline’ (Storgaard et al, 2014). As a result of the decentralization of authority, HQ actors may see their power and influence eroding and therefore attempt to contest the transition and minimize its adverse effect on their social position.…”

Section: Cultural Capital and The Production Of Social Hierarchy Undementioning

confidence: 99%

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The politics of cultural capital: Social hierarchy and organizational architecture in the multinational corporation

Levy

Reiche

2017

Human Relations

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How is social hierarchy in multinational corporations (MNCs) culturally produced, contested and reproduced? Although the international business literature has acknowledged the importance of culture, it gives little consideration to its role in constructing social hierarchies and symbolic boundaries between individuals and groups within MNCs. We take a Bourdieusian approach to understanding the role of cultural capital in structuring the social hierarchy in the MNC under two contrasting organizational architectures: hierarchical and network architecture. We argue that cultural capital serves as an instrument of power and status within the MNC, influencing access to valuable resources such as jobs, rewards and opportunities. Our framework further suggests that the transition from hierarchical towards network architecture sets in motion a high-stakes political struggle between headquarters and subsidiary actors over the relative value of their cultural capital in a bid to preserve or gain dominance and to determine the ‘rules of the game’ that order the social hierarchy in the MNC. We elaborate on this political struggle by theorizing about the relative dominance of cultural versus social capital, the content and relative value of firm-specific and cosmopolitan cultural capital, and the convertibility of cultural capital into other forms of capital under hierarchical and network architectures.

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Section: Cultural Capital and The Production Of Social Hierarchy Undementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cultural Capital and The Production Of Social Hierarchy Undementioning

confidence: 99%

The politics of cultural capital: Social hierarchy and organizational architecture in the multinational corporation

Levy

Reiche

2017

Human Relations

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“…However, Michailova et al (2017) criticize the notion advanced in much of the MNC literature for its simplistic treatment of power relations. In many cases, ethnocentrism can be intentional (Mayrhofer & Brewster, 1996) and it can take the guise of the ‘global’ (Storgaard et al, 2014). In this sense, the mainstream international business literature has hardly addressed the ‘global’ windowdressing or dealt with the rising trends of parochialism, nationalism, ethnocentrism and neocolonialism in MNCs and their operating environments (Ailon & Kunda, 2009; Koveshnikov et al, 2016).…”

Section: From Ethnocentrism To Neocolonialism In Mnc Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We are witnessing a trend of anti-globalization and protectionism (Alvarez & Rangan, 2019), which is reflected in ‘a rediscovery of the local’ in many walks of life (Ginty, 2015, p. 845). The revival of nationalist sentiment in North America, Europe, Asia and beyond has encouraged many multinational corporations (MNCs) to emphasize their local roots, identifying openly with their countries of origin (Dahles & Stobbe, 2004; Storgaard, Tienari, & Piekkari, 2014). The ‘global mindset’ that was once seen as the pinnacle of MNC evolution (Gupta & Govindarajan, 2002; Perlmutter, 1969) is challenged by ethnocentric attitudes and practices in the subsidiaries (Ailon & Kunda, 2009; Koveshnikov, Vaara, & Ehrnrooth, 2016) as well as in the corporate headquarters (HQ) (Michailova, Piekkari, Storgaard, & Tienari, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holding On While Letting Go: Neocolonialism as Organizational Identity Work in a Multinational Corporation

Storgaard

Tienari²,

Piekkari

et al. 2020

Organization Studies

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This paper develops the idea of neocolonialism as organizational identity work in multinational corporations (MNCs). We argue that neocolonialism – the ethos and practice of colonialism and western superiority in contemporary society – is a means through which identity is worked on at MNC headquarters (HQ). In contrast to extant neocolonial studies of western MNCs, which focus on the subsidiaries (the colonized) and how their identities are shaped by the HQ (the colonizer), we analyse how the HQ is shaped by the subsidiaries. We elucidate two versions of neocolonialism at play: a traditional neocolonial ethos, which prevails at HQ, and a more contemporary version, which is silenced. Our findings show that nurturing a shared and enduring organizational identity across all units of an MNC is a quixotic task. Nevertheless, HQ managers in western MNCs keep attempting to do this, suggesting that neocolonial ethos and practice continue to be relevant in these organizations.

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Gender in international business journals: A review and conceptualization of MNCs as gendered social spaces

Koveshnikov

Tienari

Piekkari

2019

Journal of World Business

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The paper reviews 105 contributions published in journals pertinent to the field of International Business (IB) between 1991 and 2014 and details four main conceptualizations of gender: how women are compared against men, how gender is treated as a control variable and a cultural macro variable, and how gender is 'done' in international organizations. The review reveals that positivist epistemological assumptions dominate the IB field and that the current understanding of gender is limited. To advance the research, the paper develops the notion of MNCs as gendered social spaces and explains why the IB field would benefit from a more nuanced understanding and incorporation of gender relations into its analyses and discussions. The paper outlines theoretical and methodological advances associated with the reconceptualization of MNCs as gendered social spaces.

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“The Most Public Secret”: Concealing and Silencing Ethnocentrism in the MNC

Cited by 4 publications

References 29 publications

The politics of cultural capital: Social hierarchy and organizational architecture in the multinational corporation

The politics of cultural capital: Social hierarchy and organizational architecture in the multinational corporation

Holding On While Letting Go: Neocolonialism as Organizational Identity Work in a Multinational Corporation

Gender in international business journals: A review and conceptualization of MNCs as gendered social spaces

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