Innovation and control in the multinational firm : A comparison of political and contingency approaches
Journal
Strategic Management Journal
ISSN
0143-2095
ISSN-Digital
1097-0266
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2007-05-01
Author(s)
Abstract
This study focuses on control mechanisms used by multinational corporations (MNCs) to manage their extra-national R&D units. Drawing on both the literature on organizational power and contingency theory, this study develops and empirically tests a set of hypotheses aimed at explaining how headquarters control their overseas R&D units. Data collected from 134 R&D units of German MNCs serve to test the hypotheses. Results highlight the importance of the units' R&D mandate and its interdependence in explaining control mechanisms. Moreover, they indicate a relatively weak predictive power of political approaches compared to contingency approaches.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
No
Publisher
Wiley
Publisher place
Chichester [u.a.]
Volume
28
Number
5
Start page
473
End page
486
Pages
14
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
218077