跨国公司全球营销策略与在华营销活动研究

跨国公司在全球范围内进行扩张时,是采用一体化营销战略还是当地化营销战略一直是跨国公司在实际决策中遇到的难点,这同时也是近年来营销理论界争论的一个焦点。通过对全球化营销和当地化营销两种营销方式内涵的挖掘,进而以Prahalad&Doz(1987)提出的一体化——当地化分析框架为基础,研究跨国公司在华的营销策略。研究结果表明:几乎所有进入中国市场的跨国公司都把本土化作为获取中国的胜利之本。     

MNE subsidiary evolution from sales to innovation: Looking inside the black box

Whereas the innovation-related evolution of multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries has been extensively studied, the numerous sales subsidiaries in MNE networks have received little attention in this context. This study examines the evolution process of a sales subsidiary towards acquiring innovation-related capabilities and actively supporting innovation activities of a MNE. The evolution is explained in terms of technical information flow in an in-depth case study of a semiconductor MNEs’ sales subsidiary in South Korea. We find that the evolution of the sales subsidiary to innovation support has been enabled by a combination of subsidiary-related, lead market-related and event-related factors. We contribute to the literature on MNE subsidiary evolution by studying the unexplored evolution of a sales subsidiary. We combine the general framework of subsidiary evolution with the lead user perspective and suggest directions for potential theory extensions on MNE subsidiary evolution.     

How do firms evolve? The patterns of technological evolution of semiconductor subsidiaries

This study draws on concepts from international strategy and evolutionary economics to investigate the development of innovative ability within multinational subsidiaries. The paper develops hypotheses regarding the evolution of subsidiary innovative abilities, and the changes across time of their knowledge sourcing and sharing patterns with other parts of the multinational enterprise and host country firms.The paper analyzes patent data pertaining to foreign subsidiaries of US semiconductor firms and finds support for subsidiary technological development—there are positive changes in the scale and scope of innovative activity across time. The results also suggest that subsidiaries are increasingly embedded in host country knowledge networks—as they mature, subsidiaries increasingly learn and share knowledge locally. Evidence of increasing integration with other firms within the multinational enterprise is weaker.     

跨国公司子公司研究的演进和未来的发展方向

本文通过对国内外有关跨国公司子公司研究的回顾,详细论述了跨国公司子公司研究的四大流派——战略—结构流派、母子公司关系流派、子公司角色流派和子公司发展流派的演进过程,分析了近几年跨国公司子公司的研究动态,总结了跨国公司子公司研究演进的变化规律,进而探讨了跨国公司子公司研究未来的发展方向。     

Path dependence, MNCs and the internationalisation process: a relational approach

In the internationalisation literature the notion of path dependence has often been associated with gradualism in the evolution of a subsidiary in its host country. In this paper, we argue that path dependence cannot be exclusively associated with gradualism nor can the evolution of a particular subsidiary be explained solely by its embeddedness in its host environment. Instead, we propose that the internationalisation trajectory of units within a multinational corporation’s network comprises a trajectory in time and space involving multiple, overlapping networks. Gradualism and discontinuities in the evolution of the units of a multinational enterprise are the outcomes of relational mechanisms interacting across different temporal and geographical contexts.     

British co-operative societies as retail innovators: Interpreting the early stages of the self-service revolution

Multinational companies and their subsidiaries have been important actors in the world economy. However, we know relatively little about the evolution of subsidiaries and their adaption to host country conditions. This article is a case study of a Norwegian subsidiary of the Canadian mining multinational Falconbridge Nickel Mines Ltd. It examines what autonomy the subsidiary had, how the autonomy was used, its development of knowledge and how it adapted to Norwegian ways of doing business. The article shows that subsidiaries may contribute significantly to the development of their mother companies. It highlights four factors that influenced the degree of autonomy and the evolution of subsidiaries in the inter-war era; namely host country politics, the line of business, the configuration of knowledge within the given multinational company and in case of acquisitions; the prehistory of the subsidiary.     

Subsidiary goals,learning orientations,and ownership strategies of multinational enterprises: evidence from foreign direct investments in Korea

This paper investigates the links among subsidiary goals, learning orientations, and ownership strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs). The authors hypothesize that an MNE's ownership strategy is determined by subsidiary goals and learning orientations. Furthermore, interactions between learning orientations and subsidiary goals are predicted to influence the ownership strategy. Based on 723 foreign subsidiaries of MNEs operating in Korea, our findings suggest that when MNE foreign subsidiaries influence ownership choice, market-seeking goals and resource-seeking goals have a stronger fit with the exploitation orientation than with the exploration orientation. In contrast, the category of knowledge-seeking goals has a stronger fit with exploration than with exploitation.     

Entrepreneurial leadership and MNE subsidiary performance: The moderating role of subsidiary context

Managers of international subsidiaries, especially subsidiary CEOs, operate at critical interfaces within multinational enterprises (MNEs) and hold strategic responsibility for the operations in their country. Yet, their impact on subsidiary performance has received scant research attention. Building on the subsidiary entrepreneurship and strategic leadership literatures, we develop a model of how subsidiary CEOs’ entrepreneurial leadership affects subsidiary performance, and how this relationship is moderated by the subsidiary context that determines managerial discretion. We combine survey data of 291 international subsidiaries in South Korea with archival data to test our hypotheses. Our results show that subsidiary CEOs’ entrepreneurial leadership enhances subsidiary performance and that this relationship is strengthened by managerial discretion. Our study highlights the pivotal role of subsidiary CEOs within MNEs and contributes to a microfoundational understanding of international subsidiary management.     

Subsidiary strategy of emerging market multinationals: A home country institutional perspective

We examine the effects of home country institutional factors, namely, home country government support, domestic institutional weaknesses, and state ownership on the subsidiary-level strategy of global integration (I) and local responsiveness (R) of emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs). We draw upon the home country institution-based view and the I/R framework to develop our theoretical model. We empirically test our hypotheses using an original new survey data collected from Chinese multinational subsidiary managers supplemented with parent-level and country-level data. We find that home country government support and domestic institutional weaknesses have significant and negative effects on global integration strategy of Chinese multinational subsidiaries. On the other hand, domestic institutional weaknesses push foreign subsidiaries to pursue local responsiveness strategy. Nevertheless, those with greater degree of state ownership in their parent firms are neither willing to disintegrate from their parent firms nor motivated to pursue local responsiveness strategy in order to deal with home country institutional deficiencies and develop new sources of competitiveness in foreign markets. Our findings have advanced the literature on subsidiary strategy in the context of EMNEs, and provide important implications for subsidiary managers and policy makers.     

Characteristics and influences of multinational subsidiary entrepreneurial culture: The case of the advertising sector

This paper undertakes an exploratory study into the characteristics of entrepreneurial culture of the multinational subsidiary; and, into the associated influences and manifestations linked to multinational corporation (MNC) and environmental contexts. The theme of multinational subsidiary entrepreneurial culture is an unexplored theme in the literature, and has considerable research and managerial significance. This qualitative research is based on eight multinational subsidiaries in the advertising sector in the UK. The evidence suggests that the constituents of multinational subsidiary entrepreneurial culture include global vision, entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial MNC network management. The related influences and manifestations refer to subsidiary autonomy, target market servicing and responsiveness to local environmental conditions. In addition, the findings show that while entrepreneurial behaviour was evident in all investigated subsidiaries, its locus varied significantly. Specifically, entrepreneurship in multinational subsidiaries can be subsidiary-, headquarters-, or jointly-driven.     

The configuration of employee retention practices in multinational corporations’ foreign subsidiaries

This paper contributes to turnover research by deriving a typology of retention practices and investigating their applicability in multinational corporations’ (MNCs) foreign subsidiaries in the light of home- and host-country effects. Linking institutional and strategic HRM perspectives, the paper then proposes a conceptual framework examining how MNCs can maximize their retention capacity. Specifically, MNCs need to align their transferable home-country retention practices with overall strategy and complement them with flexible context-specific practices to allow for adaptability across different subsidiaries. It is further argued that characteristics of the headquarters–subsidiary relationship will influence the relative importance of context-generalizable versus context-specific retention practices and that the relevant set of practices for each subsidiary then needs to be configured individually.     

The overlooked distinction of multinational enterprise subsidiary learning: Its managerial and entrepreneurial learning modes

The theme concerning modes of learning in multinational subsidiaries is the focus of enquiry in the current study. This theme is closely linked to the issue of how subsidiaries become alert and seize opportunities. Such an investigation is also important for management practice because effective subsidiary learning can render sustainable competitive advantage in the host country. We performed an in-depth case examination on six multinational subsidiaries of a large Finnish firm. We identify two learning modes of multinational subsidiaries that we refer to as managerial and entrepreneurial learning. We find that managerial learning shares characteristics with the systems-structural learning perspective; is facilitated by embeddedness of the subsidiary in the MNE system; and, transferred in the MNE through many conventional and reverse knowledge flows. On the contrary, entrepreneurial learning shares characteristics with the interpretive learning perspective; is facilitated by embeddedness of the subsidiary in the host country; and, transferred in the MNE through relatively fewer reverse knowledge flows. The distinction between these two learning modes and their discrete characteristics enlighten past research that has largely failed to pinpoint the importance of the two modes for MNE subsidiary activities.     

Consequences of perception gaps in the headquarters–subsidiary relationship

This paper is built on two premises: (1) that HQ and subsidiary managers often have different perceptions about the role of the subsidiary in the multinational corporation, and (2) that such differences have important implications for the management of the HQ–subsidiary relationship. Using data collected from 89 HQ–subsidiary dyads, we test and find support for a LISREL model, in which subsidiary managers' overestimation of their roles is associated with greater HQ control of the subsidiary, which in turn is associated with a lower level of HQ–subsidiary cooperation.     

Headquarters to subsidiary transfer effects on marketing strategy exploitation

The transfer of locally created marketing strategies worldwide represents a key competitive advantage for multinational corporations (MNCs). Although a research topic of much interest, empirical content of past studies is scarce. Absorptive capacity studies typically test direct effects of either the transfer capacity of the strategy's initiator or the recipient's ability to process and exploit the strategy on related learning outcomes. Mixed findings allow the possibility of more complex relationships. This study examines the relationships between MNC headquarters and marketing units located in subsidiary firms using a sample of 213 marketing managers. The study systematically explores linear, interaction, and quadratic effects within a structural equation modeling paradigm. The findings indicate that the relationship between a MNC headquarters' transfer capacity and a subsidiary marketing unit's processing capacity on the strategy's exploitation is one of mediation and moderation. The subsidiary marketing unit's processing capacity is a key mediating variable and headquarters' transfer capacity moderates the effects of this variable on the exploitation of the marketing strategy by the subsidiary's unit.     

Resource dependency and parent–subsidiary capability transfers

In this paper, we treat the multinational firm as an internal market in which various business units compete for scarce resources. By using the resource dependence theory to examine the parent–subsidiary relationship, we view this relationship as more of a political coalition than a hierarchy. We studied the pattern of capability transfers from the headquarters to the subsidiary to highlight this relationship. Using Taiwan-based multinational firms as the sample, our results show that the pattern is more reminiscent of a power game than an effort to maximize global efficiency. In essence, a triangular power play between the headquarters, subsidiary, and local networks determines the extent to which firm-specific capabilities are to be transferred abroad. It is almost certain that capabilities will never be completely transferred. A subsidiary can leverage local market potential to prompt more capability transfers from the headquarters, but any inclinations for the subsidiary to differentiate itself from the parent will discourage such transfers.     

Configurational characteristics of mandate portfolios and their impact on foreign subsidiary survival

This study examines how the composition of subsidiaries’ mandates affects their survival, by investigating the configurational characteristics of mandate portfolios. Examining data from 1991 to 2017 on 14,952 foreign subsidiaries of 4,877 multinational enterprises reveals that while having a mandate portfolio with greater scope in relation to same-parent subsidiaries enhances the survivability of foreign subsidiaries, the effect is weakened when the portfolio has a higher degree of overlap with those of other same-parent subsidiaries. Conversely, when a subsidiary’s mandate portfolio puts a greater emphasis on the multinational enterprise’s (MNE) global value-chain activities, its effect on subsidiary survival is strengthened.     

Can locally-recruited R&D personnel significantly contribute to multinational subsidiary innovation in an emerging economy?

This paper assesses the role of locally-recruited R&D personnel relative to their expatriate counterparts as regards innovation in multinational subsidiaries in an emerging economy. Two hypotheses are developed based on a network approach to multinational enterprises in an emerging economy setting, and tested on a sample of 317 multinational subsidiaries in China. Our results indicate that locally-recruited R&D personnel have played a limited role in innovation within multinational subsidiaries. While making a marginally significant contribution to R&D output due to their direct supply of technological knowledge, locally-recruited R&D personnel are unable to translate subsidiary R&D expenditure into successful patent applications probably because of their lack of technology management skills. In comparison, R&D expatriates significantly contribute to multinational subsidiary R&R output in both dimensions.     

Absorptive capacity in foreign subsidiaries: The effects of language-sensitive recruitment,language training,and interunit knowledge transfer

Are multinational corporations able to enhance the development of absorptive capacity in foreign subsidiaries through language-oriented human resource management (HRM) practices? Taking into account that a shared language enhances absorptive capacity and that many multinational corporations are multilingual entities, this question is relevant but given little focused attention in international business research. In this paper, we hypothesize that two language-oriented HRM practices – language-sensitive recruitment and language training – enhance absorptive capacity in foreign subsidiaries. In addition, we hypothesize that interunit knowledge transfer partially mediates the positive relationship between these language-oriented HRM practices and absorptive capacity. Analyses of survey data derived at three points in time from 574 foreign subsidiary units in Japan provide support for these hypotheses.     

基于资源观的跨国公司子公司特定优势的形成和发展研究

近年来,在跨国公司折衷理论“三优势范式”的基础上,又出现了一种新的优势——子公司特定优势。本文对子公司特定优势进行了分析和阐述,回顾了资源理论及其与竞争优势的关系,介绍了子公司特定优势的由来和概念,又以资源理论为基础,分析了子公司特定优势的形成和发展过程。     

Multinational corporations,inter-organizational networks and subsidiary charter removals

This paper provides insights into the dynamics of a charter removal at a Hungarian subsidiary of the Siemens telecommunication switching division. By using inter-organizational network theory, we investigate how host-country factor endowments, the resource position of a subsidiary and the density of network exchange relationships within the organizational network influence the removal of a multinational corporate subsidiary's charter. The dispersion of resources in a multinational corporation drives intra-firm competition, which will typically lead to the removal of a subsidiary's charter if the subsidiary lacks specialized resources – typically an outcome of host country comparative disadvantages – and simultaneously holds a position on the periphery of the organizational network.