Getting the seal of approval: Pathways to subsidiary initiative acceptance

A.N. Gorgijevski, D.S. Andrews

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Multinational corporations (MNCs) are proactive, entrepreneurial, and decentralized organizations. They seek to incorporate and leverage knowledge from their foreign subsidiaries. Initiatives in which subsidiaries pursue new business opportunities are one way that subsidiaries contribute to MNCs' knowledge stocks, but prior research suggests that few subsidiary initiatives secure headquarters approval. We argue that the extent to which initiatives are accepted by the headquarters of an MNC depends on a range of relational and contextual conditions that configure in complex ways. Using a neoconfigurational approach, we identify five equifinal configurations associated with the acceptance of subsidiary initiatives. We advance theory of subsidiary management by uncovering how subsidiary activities gain traction within the MNC.
Original languageEnglish
Article number100879
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of International Management
Volume28
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2022

Funding

We appreciate the financial support from Handelsbankens Research Foundation . Funding was provided by Jan Wallanders and Tom Hedelius Research Foundation [Grant number P2016-0294:1 ].

FundersFunder number
Handelsbankens Research Foundation
Jan Wallanders and Tom Hedelius Research FoundationP2016-0294:1

    Keywords

    • Subsidiary initiative
    • Subsidiary management
    • Headquarters attention
    • Subsidiary autonomy
    • fsQCA

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