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Institutional and sectoral determinants of headquarters-subsidiary relationships: A study of UK service multinationals in China, Korea, Brazil and Argentina
Long Range Planning. 2012;45(1):16-40.
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Abstract
What is the nature of headquarters-subsidiary relationships in service multinationals? What factors, including sectoral and national features, affect these relationships? Drawing on a study of eight major UK service multinationals operating in four countries with distinctive institutional environments – China, Korea, Brazil and Argentina – we develop a conceptual framework of the determinants of headquarters-subsidiary relationships in service multinationals. We find that one of the determinants of headquarters-subsidiary relationships is the development by service multinationals of tools for integration and co-ordination, including corporate processes and global supply chain management, which reinforce centralisation. Two additional sets of determinants, however, account for variations among the cases in the autonomy of subsidiaries. A first set of factors relates to the characteristics of the different sectors, including whether the multinational serves global or local customers and the scale and diversity of subsidiary operations. A second includes the influence of institutions and regulations in the host country.
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- Publisher URL http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0024630111000641
- DOI URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2011.11.001