| 1. |
- Andersson, Ulf R., 1973-, et al.
(författare)
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In search of centre of excellence : Network embeddedness and subsidiaryroles in multinational corporations
- 2000
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Ingår i: MIR: Management International Review. - 0938-8249 .- 1861-8901. ; 40:4, s. 329-350
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper the authors explore the role of a subsidiary as a centre of excellencewithin the multinational corporation (MNC). It is argued that such a role can bebased on the characteristics of a subsidiary's internal resources, its relationshipswith the rest of the MNC and the business context of which the subsidiary is apart. Based on the perspective of an MNC as a Network the latter aspect is es-pecially focused. Through an analysis of 98 subsidiaries the importance of thesubsidiary's embeddedness, in terms of business relationships with specific cus-tomers and suppliers for its role as a centre of excellence, is investigated.A conceptual result from this paper is that it offers a framework for analysingthe role of the business context for the subsidiary's role as a centre of excel-lence. Productive relationships with external counterparts in the business envi-ronment can be used by the subsidiary to enhance its role as a centre of excel-lence. An empirical result is that the external embeddedness of the subsidiaryis an important and significant explanatory variable of the subsidiary's possibil-ities to be considered important to the MNC as well as a prerequisite to influ-ence the future behaviour of MNC.
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| 2. |
- Birkinshaw, Julian, et al.
(författare)
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Knowledge dissemination in global R&D operations : an empirical study of multinationals in the high-technology electronics industry
- 2000
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Ingår i: Management International Review. - : Springer Verlag (Germany). - 0938-8249. ; 40:1, s. 49-78
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study is an empirical examination of I) the mechanisms that three multinationals used to disseminate knowledge within their globally dispersed R&D operations, 2) the impediments that these multinationals experienced when implementing these mechanisms, and 3) the means to overcome these impediments. Management focused considerably on implementing mechanisms that facilitated the flow of knowledge to top management for the coordination of globally dispersed R&D activities. However, little attention was placed on mechanisms to facilitate the flow of knowledge for use by engineers in problem-solving activities. Three types of impediments to knowledge flow were observed: I) opportunity cost of time, 2) knowledge is power, and 3) not-invented-here. Knowledge flow in an MNC appears to be facilitated by establishing a one-company culture through I) incorporating teamwork as a company value, 2) evaluating individual knowledge contribution and assimilation in performance appraisals, 3) implementing a goal that promotes overall company improvement, and 4) facilitating extensive personnel rotation.
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