Abstract
This thesis investigates expatriate staffing strategies in the multinational enterprise (MNE) at both subsidiary and aggregate MNE levels. This research focuses on the role of subsidiary portfolio characteristics that reflect the extent to which overseas subsidiaries are spatially, horizontally, and hierarchically differentiated. Based on the differentiated network view of the MNE, this research argues that the degrees of internal differentiation in the subsidiary portfolio determine the level of managerial complexity faced by headquarters and hence affect expatriate staffing decisions in their subsidiaries. By highlighting the role of subsidiary portfolio characteristics, this thesis provides important new insights into MNE management.
Highlights
Over the last two decades, the view of the multinational enterprise (MNE) as a “differentiated network” has become dominant in international business (IB) literature
MNEs with a more oligopolistic power structure tend to employ more intensive expatriation across all constituent subsidiaries, compared to MNEs with a more egalitarian power structure. These findings demonstrate that MNE structural attributes serve as crucial determinants of HQ expatriate utilization in the subsidiary portfolio
The main objective of this paper is to examine how MNEs achieve the “differentiated fit” (Nohria & Ghoshal, 1994) with their subsidiaries through expatriation
Summary
Over the last two decades, the view of the multinational enterprise (MNE) as a “differentiated network” has become dominant in international business (IB) literature. The differentiated network view has drawn significant attention to the complex nature of the MNE, those to do with the associated control and coordination issues (Ghoshal & Bartlett, 1990) Having subsidiaries with their own set of competences creates the possibility that MNEs can, in principle, take advantage of the diversity of knowledge from various locations. IB literature has increasingly recognized that the managerial capability of MNE HQ to effectively manage complex organizational networks is a key source of competitive advantages in today’s multinationals (Forsgren, Holm, & Johanson, 2005; Narula, 2014) Despite such growing recognition, very few studies have explicitly explored this management issue in a complex MNE setting, and little is known about how MNEs (or HQ) effectively manage a complex portfolio of differentiated subsidiaries dispersed a range of locations. This thesis extends the literature on international management and expatriation by presenting theoretical arguments and evidence on the important role of the MNE’s internal network structure in HQ managerial decision-making, in relation to expatriate utilization
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