Whither national subsidiaries? The need to refocus international management research on structures and processes that matter

Edwards, Tony; Svystunova, Luda; Almond, Philip C.; Kern, Philipp; Kim, Kyoungmi; Tregaskis, Olga

doi:10.1057/s41267-021-00437-y

Cited by 8 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Key Arguments Edwards et al (2021) document several concerns about the prevalence of the term subsidiary in IB research while referring to a subsidiary as an organizational unit with substantial authority, control, and country focus. The authors do so by questioning the traditional assumptions of MNE structures and processes ''from above'' and ''from below.''…”

Section: An Assessment Of Edwards Et Al (2021)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our review of Edwards et al (2021) culminated in three key issues and missed opportunities. First, the criticisms may seem appropriate in assuming a narrow set of subsidiary-focused work, perhaps reflecting a miniature replica of the corporate headquarters (Birkinshaw & Morrison, 1995).…”

Section: Criticisms and Missed Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These subsidiaries would have a wide range of authority or control over all essential business functions and activities, focus on one single host country, and be nearly stand-alone, enterprises. However, Edwards et al (2021) are notably vague as they do not sufficiently define what a subsidiary is in their view; the critique is built loosely on assumptions that prior research often differs from (Meyer et al, 2020). The strawman tactics and absence of a differentiating definition are highly problematic because decades of subsidiary research have demonstrated that subsidiaries vary across the activities they perform (Meyer et al, 2020), the decision rights they possess (Frost & Birkinshaw, 2002), the power they hold versus headquarters (Bouquet & Birkinshaw, 2008), and the geographic regions they serve.…”

Section: Criticisms and Missed Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, several scholars have recently voiced concerns about the phenomenological and methodological issues that allegedly plague extant subsidiary scholarship. Most recently, an article by Edwards, Svystunova, Almond, Kern, Kim, and Tregaskis (2021) highlighted the potentially eroding relevance of the subsidiary concept, arguing that its existing applications and, thus, subsidiary-focused research questions in IB are outdated and problematic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The expressed waning relevance of the subsidiary comes from a presumed shifting reality on the ground. Edwards et al (2021) argue that subsidiaries are an increasingly rare phenomenon primarily because the term is seldom used in practice. They further argue that the subsidiary-based assumptions of substantial authority and control, as well as a clear country focus, are conceptually inappropriate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

And the subsidiary lives on: Harnessing complex realities in the contemporary MNE

et al. 2022

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Managing multinational enterprise subsidiaries is a core facet of international business research. A shifting reality on the ground has triggered concerns around the waning relevance of the subsidiary because the MNE and its structure and processes have become increasingly complex. Consequently, more decentralized, responsive, and fluid organizational designs are now at the core of IB research. Juxtaposing recent arguments questioning subsidiary research altogether, we argue that IB scholars can explore and explain complex realities in the contemporary MNE without unnecessarily restricting the breadth of the field and giving up links to established research and theory. We reframe conversations around inward- and outward-looking perspectives, providing a path forward that emphasizes the importance of embracing the subsidiary concept in research reflecting today’s complex business environment.

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Section: An Assessment Of Edwards Et Al (2021)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Criticisms and Missed Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Criticisms and Missed Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

And the subsidiary lives on: Harnessing complex realities in the contemporary MNE

et al. 2022

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Coaxing corporations: Enriching the conceptualization of governments as strategic actors

Gill,

Gill

2023

Strategic Management Journal

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Research SummaryLittle is known about how governments secure discrete resources from global corporations over which they have limited direct control. Utilizing declassified archival sources, we examine how the UK government influenced Moody's and Standard & Poor's to provide the highest possible credit ratings in 1978, despite the UK receiving an International Monetary Fund bailout 2 years earlier. We develop a process model to explain how democratic government officials employ distinctive processes to enable and facilitate a nonmarket approach of corporate coaxing to influence corporations' decision making. We thereby enrich the concept of governments as a strategic actors by illuminating how officials act to secure resources when in a position of dependence.Managerial SummaryWe sought to understand how governments attempt to influence corporations' decision making when they have limited direct control over these corporations. We examined the historical case of the UK government seeking to influence Moody's and Standard and Poor's. In this case, we identified the distinctive strategy of corporate coaxing to explain how government officials navigate the distinctive constraints, and leverage the unique strengths, of their democratic state, to exert influence on private and global corporations. Our findings show how governments can be more active stakeholders in corporate activity than commonly assumed, as their subtle influence can extend beyond state policies or regulations.

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Multinational Corporations’ Interactions with Host Institutions: Taking Stock and Moving Forward

Svystunova,

Muratova,

Fortwengel

et al. 2023

Manag Int Rev

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Over more than 30 years, research on the interactions between multinational corporations (MNCs) and their institutional host environments has produced rich but scattered insights, which this review organises and integrates. We map the current state of knowledge and build an integrative model involving motivation and host context as antecedents; interaction strategy and actors as the phenomenon; and consequences, especially at the organisational level, as outcomes. By reviewing 176 articles published in leading journals, we reveal previously hidden relationships between host-country institutional context, proactive and reactive strategies, and positive and negative outcomes for the focal organisation. We also identify three future research frontiers focused on understudied aspects of interactions between MNCs and institutions: dynamics of strategies, dynamics of impact, and microfoundational dynamics. We suggest that combining organisational institutionalism and comparative institutionalism offers a pathway to push the outlined research frontiers.

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Whither national subsidiaries? The need to refocus international management research on structures and processes that matter

Abstract: and Tregaskis, Olga (2021) Whither national subsidiaries? The need to refocus international management research on structures and processes that matter.

Cited by 8 publications

References 47 publications

And the subsidiary lives on: Harnessing complex realities in the contemporary MNE

And the subsidiary lives on: Harnessing complex realities in the contemporary MNE

Coaxing corporations: Enriching the conceptualization of governments as strategic actors

Multinational Corporations’ Interactions with Host Institutions: Taking Stock and Moving Forward

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