Business Commons^™

Developing Strategy From The Middle:Subsidiary Strategy And The Role Of The Subsidiary General Manager, Donal O'Brien, Pamela Sharkey Scott, Patrick Gibbons

Conference Papers

The multinational subsidiary is a unique context to study management processes relating to strategy but so far, there has not been a coherent approach identifiable in the literature. It is recognised that subsidiaries evolve over time and through their own actions and initiatives have the potential to modify the power structures of the Multinational Enterprise (MNE) but little is known about the role of the subsidiary manager in this process. We suggest that the tensions between the headquarters perspective and the subsidiary perspective have resulted in the application of inappropriate frameworks to the study of subsidiary managers. This proposal presents …

Strategic Activity In The Today’S Multinational Subsidiaries, Donal O'Brien, Pamela Sharkey Scott, Patrick Gibbons

Conference Papers

This working paper presents an ongoing empirical study into strategy development at the subsidiary management level of the Multinational Enterprise (MNE). The multinational subsidiary is a unique context to study management processes relating to strategy but so far, despite the emergence of the concept, there has not been a coherent approach identifiable in the literature. It is recognised that subsidiaries evolve over time and through their own actions and initiatives have the potential to modify the power structures of the Multinational Enterprise (MNE) but little is known about the role of the subsidiary manager in this process. We suggest that …

Subsidiary Strategy And The Role Of The Subsidiary Manager : Integrating The Middle Manager Perspective, Donal O'Brien

Conference Papers

Subsidiary strategy is a concept which has emerged in international business literature but research has so far failed to explain how subsidiary managers develop strategy under the constraints of the paradoxical pressures they face in today’s Multinational Enterprises (MNE). On the one hand current trends suggest that (MNE) are developing into more global business structures which are reducing the power and influence of subsidiary managers (Buckley, 2009, Buckley & Ghauri, 2004, Mudambi, 2008). The result of these trends, are that the market orientated aspects of subsidiary strategy are becoming constrained and to some degree taken out of the hands of …

Middle Managers' Searching For Knowledge: The Repository-Interpersonal Dilemma, Esther Tippmann, Pamela Sharkey Scott, Vincent Mangematin

Conference Papers

Drawing on the organizational memory and strategy for managing knowledge literatures to develop a theoretical framework, we empirically examined the organizational memory contexts – interpersonal and repository logic - that set the broader conditions for middle managers’ knowledge searching. Contrary to most studies which examine knowledge storage processes, with the help of multiple case studies, we examined middle managers’ actual activities. Our findings reveal that in the interpersonal logic middle managers more actively engage in knowledge circulation and knowledge co-creation processes. In the repository logic instead, middle managers’ potential seemed to become confined because of cognitive inertia, leading to a …

Subsidiary Entrepreneurship, Strategy Development Processes And Strategic Initiatives, Pamela Sharkey Scott, P. T. Gibbons

Conference Papers

MNCs gain competitive advantage through leveraging initiatives generated by their subsidiary networks. Yet we continue to have limited understanding of the complex conditions which promote initiatives. By integrating the subsidiary entrepreneurship literature and strategy development theory, we argue that the subsidiary’s approach to strategy development mediates the relationship between entrepreneurship and strategic initiative generation. We test our propositions on data generated from surveying the total population of Irish subsidiaries of foreign MNCs. Our findings confirm that an entrepreneurial subsidiary’s engagement in formal strategy development makes it better at generating strategic initiatives. This evidences the need for headquarters to encourage both …

The Role Of The Middle Manager In The Strategy Development Process Of The Multinational Subsidiary, Donal O'Brien, Pamela Sharkey Scott

Conference Papers

As multinational corporations (MNC) strive for long term competitiveness in complex business environments the Strategic Development Process has emerged as a potential source of competitive advantage (Grant, 2003). Despite this recognition there is limited knowledge of the strategy development process and the contributors to strategy development at the subsidiary level of the MNC. The essence of strategy development is contributing to competitive advantage through management activities (Papadakis et al, 1998), but much of the focus of research up to this point has been on the strategic relationship between subsidiary top management and corporate headquarters with little attention being paid to …

Developing Subsidiary Contribution To The Mnc:Subsidiary Entrepreneurship And Strategy Creativity, Pamela Sharkey Scott, P. T. Gibbons Prof, Joseph Coughlan

Conference Papers

Despite its theoretical and managerial significance, subsidiary entrepreneurship and its effects on subsidiary contribution remain underexplored in the literature. We propose that subsidiary entrepreneurship encourages more creative strategic responses to escalating environmental change. We explore the direct and mediating effects of subsidiary entrepreneurship on subsidiary contribution to the MNC, particularly subsidiary strategy creativity. We use structural equation modelling to test our propositions on data generated from surveying the population of Irish subsidiaries of foreign MNCs, and find strong support for our theoretical predictions. The managerial implications of subsidiary entrepreneurship in generating creative strategy, prompting strategic initiatives and improving performance are …

Strategy Development Processes And Subsidiary Contribution, Pamela Sharkey Scott, P. T. Gibbons

Conference Papers

Intensifying international competition, increasing volatility, and systemic technological and political transformations (Dunning, 1995; Hitt, Keats and DeMarie, 1998) constitute the current competitive landscape for organisational activities (Sampler, 1998). To successfully adapt to these challenges and find new ways to renew fast obsolescing firm-specific advantage (Buckley and Casson, 1976; 1998) a more holistic approach to organisational management is emerging. This involves the integration of the traditional strategic management or advantage seeking perspective with the more innovative or opportunity seeking dimensions of entrepreneurship (Hitt et al, 1998). Developing a culture of creating or identifying opportunities and exploiting them is fundamental to entrepreneurship …

Strategy Development Processes And Organisational Performance, Pamela Sharkey Scott, P. T. Gibbons Prof

Conference Papers

A recent resurgence in both academic and practitioner interest on strategy development processes and their influence on organisational performance highlights the absence of empirical studies in this area, particularly from an MNC perspective. This study attempts to fill this important gap by applying a multifaceted conceptualisation of the strategy development process to the subsidiary level of analysis. A broad perspective on the effectiveness of strategy making is adopted and measures of contribution examined include financial and market performance, international responsibility, initiative generation and strategy creativity.

Interesting insights into subsidiary behaviour and specifically into the strategy development styles of subsidiaries are …