IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/manint/v50y2010i4d10.1007_s11575-010-0040-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Do MNC Headquarters Add Value?

Author

Listed:
  • Björn Ambos

    (Vienna University of Economics and Business)

  • Volker Mahnke

    (Copenhagen Business School)

Abstract

This focused issue examines the role of headquarters in modern multinational corporations (MNCs). We examine how headquarters add value, which roles they play and how existing theory needs to be modified in light of recent developments. We argue that headquarters still play an important role in the MNC. Furthermore, we highlight the possibility that the conceptualization of headquarters as a distinct organizational entity may need to be modified. We also suggest that further studies may benefit from focusing on problems of “dual agency” and how subsidiary managers deal with multiple parents.

Suggested Citation

  • Björn Ambos & Volker Mahnke, 2010. "How Do MNC Headquarters Add Value?," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 403-412, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:manint:v:50:y:2010:i:4:d:10.1007_s11575-010-0040-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11575-010-0040-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11575-010-0040-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11575-010-0040-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Asakawa, Kazuhiro, 2001. "Organizational tension in international R&D management: the case of Japanese firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 735-757, May.
    2. Birkinshaw, Julian & Holm, Ulf & Thilenius, Peter & Arvidsson, Niklas, 2000. "Consequences of perception gaps in the headquarters-subsidiary relationship," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 321-344, June.
    3. William G Egelhoff, 1991. "Information-Processing Theory and the Multinational Enterprise," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 22(3), pages 341-368, September.
    4. Yen Tran & Volker Mahnke & Björn Ambos, 2010. "The Effect of Quantity, Quality and Timing of Headquarters-initiated Knowledge Flows on Subsidiary Performance," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 493-511, August.
    5. Francesco Ciabuschi & Oscar Martín Martín & Benjamin Ståhl, 2010. "Headquarters’ Influence on Knowledge Transfer Performance," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 471-491, August.
    6. William G. Egelhoff, 2010. "How the Parent Headquarters Adds Value to an MNC," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 413-431, August.
    7. Stephen Tallman & Mitchell P. Koza, 2010. "Keeping the Global in Mind," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 433-448, August.
    8. Chini, Tina & Ambos, Björn & Wehle, Katrin, 2005. "The Headquarters-subsidiaries Trench:: Tracing Perception Gaps Within The Multinational Corporation," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 145-153, April.
    9. Birkinshaw, Julian & Braunerhjelm, Pontus & Holm, Ulf & Terjesen, Siri, 2006. "Why Do Some Multinational Corporations Relocate Their Headquarters Overseas?," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 54, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    10. Tina C. Ambos & Julian Birkinshaw, 2010. "Headquarters’ Attention and Its Effect on Subsidiary Performance," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 449-469, August.
    11. Björn Ambos & Bodo B. Schlegelmilch, 2010. "The New Role of Regional Management," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-27387-0.
    12. Julian Birkinshaw, 1997. "Entrepreneurship In Multinational Corporations: The Characteristics Of Subsidiary Initiatives," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(3), pages 207-229, March.
    13. Paterson, S. L. & Brock, D. M., 2002. "The development of subsidiary-management research: review and theoretical analysis," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 139-163, April.
    14. Volker Mahnke & Markus Venzin & Shaker A. Zahra, 2007. "Governing Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition in MNEs: Aligning Interests and Cognition Under Uncertainty," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7), pages 1278-1298, November.
    15. Stephen R Gates & William G Egelhoff, 1986. "Centralization in Headquarters–Subsidiary Relationships," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 17(2), pages 71-92, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Benoit Decreton & Henrik Dellestrand & Philip Kappen & Phillip C. Nell, 2017. "Beyond Simple Configurations: The Dual Involvement of Divisional and Corporate Headquarters in Subsidiary Innovation Activities in Multibusiness Firms," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(6), pages 855-878, December.
    2. Jane XJ Qiu & Lex Donaldson, 2012. "Stopford and Wells were Right! MNC Matrix Structuresdo fit a “High-High” Strategy," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 52(5), pages 671-689, October.
    3. Leanne Chung, 2014. "Headquarters’ Managerial Intentionality and Reverse Transfer of Practices," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 225-252, April.
    4. Conroy, Kieran M. & Collings, David G., 2016. "The legitimacy of subsidiary issue selling: Balancing positive & negative attention from corporate headquarters," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 612-627.
    5. Randi Lunnan & Sverre Tomassen & Ulf Andersson & Gabriel R. G. Benito, 2019. "Dealing with headquarters in the multinational corporation: a subsidiary perspective on organizing costs," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 8(1), pages 1-24, December.
    6. Riviere, Monica & Romero-Martínez, Ana M., 2021. "Network embeddedness, headquarters entrepreneurial orientation, and MNE international performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3).
    7. Julian Birkinshaw & Tina C. Ambos & Cyril Bouquet, 2017. "Boundary Spanning Activities of Corporate HQ Executives Insights from a Longitudinal Study," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 422-454, June.
    8. Farah, Bassam & Chakravarty, Dwarka & Dau, Luis & Beamish, Paul W., 2022. "Multinational enterprise parent-subsidiary governance and survival," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(2).
    9. Covin, Jeffrey G. & Garrett, Robert P. & Kuratko, Donald F. & Shepherd, Dean A., 2020. "Short leash or long leash? Parenting style, initial strategic clarity, and the development of venture learning proficiency," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(4).
    10. Dellestrand, Henrik & Kappen, Philip, 2011. "Headquarters Allocation of Resources to Innovation Transfer Projects within the Multinational Enterprise," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 263-277.
    11. Kunisch, Sven & Menz, Markus & Birkinshaw, Julian, 2019. "Spatially dispersed corporate headquarters: A historical analysis of their prevalence, antecedents, and consequences," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 148-161.
    12. Xufei Ma & Andrew Delios & Shu Yu, 2020. "Innovation in MNC’S strategy and structure: the (re) emergence of host country headquarters in large emerging markets," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 609-632, September.
    13. Debmalya Mukherjee & Satish Kumar & Naveen Donthu & Nitesh Pandey, 2021. "Research Published in Management International Review from 2006 to 2020: A Bibliometric Analysis and Future Directions," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 61(5), pages 599-642, October.
    14. Christine Holmström Lind & Olivia H. Kang, 2017. "The Value-Adding Role of the Corporate Headquarters in Innovation Transfer Processes: The Issue of Headquarters Knowledge Situation," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 571-602, August.
    15. Swoboda, Bernhard & Morbe, Lukas & Hirschmann, Johannes, 2018. "International strategy’s effects on retailers’ local implementation and performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 642-653.
    16. Perttu Kähäri & Iiris Saittakari & Rebecca Piekkari & Wilhelm Barner-Rasmussen, 2017. "Explaining Mandate Loss of Regional Headquarters: The Difference between Full and Partial Loss," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(8), pages 1206-1240, December.
    17. Cerar, Jelena & Dimitrova, Mihaela & Nell, Phillip C., 2022. "Fostering operational management “Best Practices” in subsidiary plants in the Western Balkans: The role of MNC home-country environment and resource allocation," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(2).
    18. Lee, Hyoungjin & Chung, Chris Changwha & Beamish, Paul W., 2019. "Configurational characteristics of mandate portfolios and their impact on foreign subsidiary survival," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(5), pages 1-1.
    19. Su, Cong & Ciabuschi, Francesco & Kong, Lingshuang, 2023. "Headquarters parenting advantage in Chinese MNEs: The moderating role of top managers’ political and International experience," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(2).
    20. Zhang, Feng & Jiang, Guohua & Cantwell, John A., 2019. "Geographically Dispersed Technological Capability Building and MNC Innovative Performance: The Role of Intra-firm Flows of Newly Absorbed Knowledge," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 1-1.
    21. Williams, Christopher & Colovic, Ana & Zhu, Jiqing, 2017. "Integration-responsiveness, local hires and subsidiary performance amidst turbulence: Insights from a survey of Chinese subsidiaries," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(6), pages 842-853.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Galli Geleilate, Jose-Mauricio & Andrews, Daniel S. & Fainshmidt, Stav, 2020. "Subsidiary autonomy and subsidiary performance: A meta-analysis," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(4).
    2. Leanne Chung, 2014. "Headquarters’ Managerial Intentionality and Reverse Transfer of Practices," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 225-252, April.
    3. Lee, Hyoungjin & Chung, Chris Changwha & Beamish, Paul W., 2019. "Configurational characteristics of mandate portfolios and their impact on foreign subsidiary survival," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(5), pages 1-1.
    4. Kazuhiro Asakawa, 2020. "Disaggregating the headquarters: implications for overseas R&D subsidiaries’ reporting and the subsidiaries’ knowledge-sharing patterns," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 9(1), pages 1-30, December.
    5. Xufei Ma & Andrew Delios & Shu Yu, 2020. "Innovation in MNC’S strategy and structure: the (re) emergence of host country headquarters in large emerging markets," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 609-632, September.
    6. Klaus E. Meyer & Chengguang Li & Andreas P. J. Schotter, 0. "Managing the MNE subsidiary: Advancing a multi-level and dynamic research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 0, pages 1-39.
    7. Michael J. Enright & Venkat Subramanian, 2007. "An organizing framework for MNC subsidiary typologies," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 895-924, December.
    8. Klaus E. Meyer & Chengguang Li & Andreas P. J. Schotter, 2020. "Managing the MNE subsidiary: Advancing a multi-level and dynamic research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 538-576, June.
    9. Zhang, Feng & Jiang, Guohua & Cantwell, John A., 2019. "Geographically Dispersed Technological Capability Building and MNC Innovative Performance: The Role of Intra-firm Flows of Newly Absorbed Knowledge," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 1-1.
    10. de Jong, Gjalt & van Dut, Vo & Jindra, Björn & Marek, Philipp, 2015. "Does country context distance determine subsidiary decision-making autonomy? Theory and evidence from European transition economies," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 874-889.
    11. Eva A. Alfoldi & Sara L. McGaughey & L. Jeremy Clegg, 2017. "Firm Bosses or Helpful Neighbours? The Ambiguity and Co-Construction of MNE Regional Management Mandates," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(8), pages 1170-1205, December.
    12. Perttu Kähäri & Iiris Saittakari & Rebecca Piekkari & Wilhelm Barner-Rasmussen, 2017. "Explaining Mandate Loss of Regional Headquarters: The Difference between Full and Partial Loss," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(8), pages 1206-1240, December.
    13. Ambos, Björn & Kunisch, Sven & Leicht-Deobald, Ulrich & Schulte Steinberg, Adrian, 2019. "Unravelling agency relations inside the MNC: The roles of socialization, goal conflicts and second principals in headquarters-subsidiary relationships," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 67-81.
    14. Kurokawa, Sam & Iwata, Satoshi & Roberts, Edward B., 2007. "Global R&D activities of Japanese MNCs in the US: A triangulation approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 3-36, February.
    15. Sarabi, Almasa & Froese, Fabian J. & Chng, Daniel H.M. & Meyer, Klaus E., 2020. "Entrepreneurial leadership and MNE subsidiary performance: The moderating role of subsidiary context," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    16. Phillip C. Nell & Philip Kappen & Tomi Laamanen, 2017. "Reconceptualising Hierarchies: The Disaggregation and Dispersion of Headquarters in Multinational Corporations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(8), pages 1121-1143, December.
    17. Cavanagh, Andrew & Freeman, Susan & Kalfadellis, Paul & Herbert, Kendall, 2017. "Assigned versus assumed: Towards a contemporary, detailed understanding of subsidiary autonomy," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1168-1183.
    18. Aurélien Acquier & Valentina Carbone & Valérie Moatti, 2018. "“Teaching the Sushi Chef”: Hybridization Work and CSR Integration in a Japanese Multinational Company," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 625-645, March.
    19. Kunisch, Sven & Menz, Markus & Birkinshaw, Julian, 2019. "Spatially dispersed corporate headquarters: A historical analysis of their prevalence, antecedents, and consequences," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 148-161.
    20. Schmid, Stefan & Dzedek, Lars R. & Lehrer, Mark, 2014. "From Rocking the Boat to Wagging the Dog: A Literature Review of Subsidiary Initiative Research and Integrative Framework," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 201-218.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:manint:v:50:y:2010:i:4:d:10.1007_s11575-010-0040-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.