Politics and Power in the Multinational Corporation: The Role of Institutions, Interests and Identities

Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Figures......Page 10
Tables......Page 11
Contributors......Page 12
The MNC as a political organization......Page 19
References......Page 21
Part I: Introduction......Page 23
1 Politics and power in the multinational corporation: an introduction......Page 25
Power and politics in the MNC: mainstream rationalistic IB and sociological institutionalist approaches......Page 28
The eclectic paradigm: apolitical economic view with unexamined political implications......Page 29
The evolutionary model of the MNC: rationalistic and normative view on power and politics in the MNC......Page 31
Research on subsidiary entrepreneurship: explicit focus on power and politics in the MNC but still largely drawing rationalis......Page 33
North American neo-institutionalism: contextualized but tortuous views of power and politics in the MNC......Page 35
European comparative institutionalist studies: explicit but static view of power and politics in the MNC......Page 38
Power and politics in MNCs: towards a more bottom-up and more actor-centered perspective......Page 41
The MNC as a challenge for mainstream neo-institutionalist theory: a call to study social agency......Page 42
The MNC as a challenge for comparative institutionalism: the MNC as a socio-politically contested terrain......Page 44
The role of institutions, interests and identities in studying power and politics in the MNC: conceptual ideas and empirical evidence in the contributing chapters......Page 48
Concluding remarks......Page 54
References......Page 55
Part II: Institutions, social embeddedness and knowledge......Page 61
Introductory overview......Page 63
Conceptual foundations and challenges......Page 64
The fascinatingly atypical world of aero engines......Page 72
(c) (Sub)systemic focus......Page 75
The historical origin......Page 76
The development of the post-war situation......Page 79
Localization decisions......Page 85
Interpretation and conclusions......Page 88
References......Page 91
Introduction......Page 94
Strategizing opportunities: the importance of societal institutions, particularly employment relations, in Germany......Page 95
Strategizing opportunities: the importance of robust strategic “tool kits” of local German plant actors to bargain globalizatio......Page 102
Strategizing constraints: the disintegration of the German model of employment relations?......Page 108
Discussion......Page 112
Conclusion......Page 116
References......Page 118
Introduction......Page 123
Collective knowledge and epistemology of practice......Page 125
Outcomes of transfer attempts......Page 128
Political resistance......Page 130
Cognitive hurdles......Page 131
Social capital......Page 132
Bridging roles......Page 134
The cases......Page 136
Scanfood......Page 137
History and culture......Page 138
Strategy and vision......Page 139
Interviews......Page 140
ElecCo......Page 143
Outcomes to date of transfer attempts......Page 145
Bridging roles, interests and career trajectories......Page 150
Beyond social capital: the role of social skill......Page 151
Conclusions......Page 152
References......Page 155
Part III: Headquarters–subsidiary relations......Page 159
Introduction......Page 161
Paper selection and methodology......Page 167
Contingency theory......Page 169
Agency theory......Page 176
Game theory......Page 179
Institutionalism and micro-politics......Page 181
Postcolonialist perspective......Page 187
Social identity and role theory......Page 189
Discussion......Page 193
Linking power and conflict......Page 197
Taking actors seriously in the structural perspective: a bottom-up situation-positioning approach......Page 199
Taking a processes perspective seriously......Page 201
References......Page 204
Introduction......Page 213
HQ initiative rejection......Page 214
Defining conflict......Page 216
Managing the integration versus local responsiveness quandary......Page 218
The resource dependency perspective......Page 219
Methodology......Page 220
Exploratory study (phase 1)......Page 221
Comparative case study (phase 2)......Page 222
Literal and theoretical replication (phase 3)......Page 224
Data analyses......Page 225
Threat to global competitiveness......Page 226
Perception gaps......Page 227
Threat to decision-making authority......Page 228
Negative effects on HQ control and coordination ability......Page 229
Conflict types......Page 230
Relational conflict......Page 231
Process conflict......Page 233
Conflict tactics......Page 235
Ignoring......Page 236
Shifting emphasis......Page 238
Ceremonial adoption......Page 239
Obstructing......Page 240
Attacking......Page 241
Conclusion, contributions and future research......Page 243
References......Page 246
Appendix 1: Summary of main research sites (Phase 3)......Page 250
Introduction......Page 253
Charter reallocation and subsidiary evolution in MNCs......Page 255
Headquarters–subsidiary relationships......Page 256
Conflicts in headquarters–subsidiary relationships......Page 258
Headquarters’ repertoire for action......Page 259
Subsidiaries’ repertoire for action......Page 260
Research questions, theoretical and methodological issues......Page 261
Strategic background and history......Page 263
Three episodes of headquarters-driven charter losses, 1989–2004......Page 265
The impact of charter losses on headquarters–subsidiary relationships......Page 267
Discussion and conclusions......Page 269
Appendix – Interview partners......Page 271
References......Page 272
Introduction......Page 277
Subsidiary roles in the international business literature......Page 281
Katz and Kahn’s role theoretical approach......Page 283
Subsidiary roles from Katz and Kahn’s theoretical perspective......Page 285
Conflict as a general consequence of perception gaps......Page 288
Conflict in the case of perception gaps concerning subsidiary capabilities......Page 291
Conclusions......Page 293
References......Page 296
Part IV: Role of national identities and identity work......Page 303
Introduction......Page 305
Organizational politics in the MNC......Page 307
Knowledge sharing......Page 310
Proactive behaviors......Page 312
Normative integration......Page 314
National culture and subsidiary socio-political interaction......Page 315
Data collection......Page 318
Findings......Page 322
Discussion......Page 323
References......Page 332
Introduction......Page 337
Power and identity in cross-cultural encounters......Page 339
Phase 1......Page 342
Phase 2......Page 344
Data analysis......Page 345
Japanese firms in the Netherlands......Page 346
Dutch firms in Japan......Page 348
Analysis......Page 349
Japanese firms in the Netherlands......Page 350
Dutch firms in Japan......Page 351
Analysis......Page 352
Japanese firms in the Netherlands......Page 353
Dutch firms in Japan......Page 355
Decision-making......Page 356
Japanese firms in the Netherlands......Page 357
Dutch firms in Japan......Page 358
Analysis......Page 360
Cultivating differences and power inequalities......Page 361
Limitations and implications......Page 363
References......Page 365
Introduction......Page 368
On national identity, organizational power and the discourse of nationalism......Page 370
National identity in Russian organizations......Page 372
Research context: the Russian–Finnish relations......Page 375
Research design and methodology......Page 376
The construction of national identity in Finnish–Russian organizations: “who are we?” and “where do we come from?”......Page 378
The struggle for global status: “we are more global”......Page 379
The struggle for distinct status: national identity is a valuable and distinctive resource......Page 385
Summary......Page 390
Discussion and conclusions......Page 392
References......Page 397
Introduction......Page 402
Context......Page 404
Identity and habitus in an uncertain world......Page 407
Research process......Page 410
The internationalization of brewing......Page 412
The subsidiary: Weisser......Page 413
The process of merging......Page 414
The parent: cost and cultural consonance......Page 415
Local management: managing in a zone of uncertainty......Page 416
Employee interests: the expression of dissonance......Page 420
Discussion and conclusion......Page 422
References......Page 429
Part V: Conclusions......Page 435
Introduction......Page 437
The multinational as a distinctive organizational form and its relationship to comparative institutional analysis......Page 439
The multinational as transnational social space: structures and processes......Page 441
The MNC as a unified legal and financial entity......Page 448
Global management in the transnational social space......Page 452
Conclusions......Page 454
References......Page 456
Index......Page 459