Managerial Attention and MNE Subsidiary Initiative in the Offshore Oil Industry

Abstract

The roots of subsidiary initiative – entrepreneurial actions taken by subsidiaries that can change their role within the broader corporation or even overall corporate strategy – has been broadly studied at the organizational and external environmental level. Following calls to consider the role of individual managers in the undertaking of subsidiary initiative, this paper adopts the Attention Based View to consider the mediating role of managerial attention in the subsidiary initiative process. Using interview data from MNE subsidiaries in the offshore oil industry in Newfoundland, Canada, we find that individual characteristics – most notably entrepreneurial background, local identity and degree of local embeddedness help direct the attention of local managers to the external environment. This increases the propensity for subsidiary initiative. When promoting initiatives, it is necessary to gain the attention and help reorient an ally with the headquarters top management team to facilitate approval. This paper helps expand understanding of subsidiary initiative in international business and the as yet understudied role of middle managers’ attention in determining the incidence and approval of initiatives.