Weight versus Voice: How Foreign Subsidiaries Capture the Attention of Corporate Headquarters

This paper investigates how foreign subsidiaries gain attention from corporate headquarters (HQ.) Using detailed questionnaire and archival data on 283 subsidiaries in multinational enterprises, our analysis revealed three significant findings. First, attention decisions are partially based on the structural positions that subsidiary units occupy within the corporate system - their "weight." Second, subsidiaries also have a "voice" of their own which they can use to attract attention. Third, the relationship between subsidiary voice and HQ attention is moderated by two specific aspects of the subsidiary's historical situation - geographic distance and a downstream competence.

[1]  Richard Welford,et al.  Culture and organizations , 2009 .

[2]  Fowler,et al.  Survey research methods, 2nd ed. , 2009 .

[3]  Joost Berkhout,et al.  The Politics of Attention: How Government Prioritizes Problems , 2008 .

[4]  P. Chisnall.  Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method , 2007, Journal of Advertising Research.

[5]  D. Dillman.  Mail and internet surveys: The tailored design method, 2nd ed. , 2007 .

[6]  Donald C. Hambrick,et al.  Attention as the Mediator Between Top Management Team Characteristics and Strategic Change: The Case of Airline Deregulation , 2006, Organ. Sci..

[7]  Tapabrata Maiti,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling (2nd ed.) , 2006 .

[8]  Stewart R. Miller,et al.  Local Density and Foreign Subsidiary Performance , 2006 .

[9]  W. Ocasio,et al.  An Attention-Based Theory of Strategy Formulation: Linking Micro- and Macroperspectives in Strategy Processes , 2005 .

[10]  S. Floyd,et al.  Toward a model of issue-selling by subsidiary managers in multinational organizations , 2005 .

[11]  O. Levy.  The influence of top management team attention patterns on global strategic posture of firms , 2005 .

[12]  Yadong Luo,et al.  Toward coopetition within a multinational enterprise: A perspective from foreign subsidiaries , 2005 .

[13]  P. Buckley,et al.  A formal analysis of knowledge combination in multinational enterprises , 2004 .

[14]  R. Mudambi,et al.  Is Knowledge Power? Knowledge Flows, Subsidiary Power and Rent-Seeking within MNCs , 2004 .

[15]  Michael J. Enright,et al.  New frontiers in international strategy , 2004 .

[16]  K Hewett,et al.  Conditions influencing headquarters and foreign subsidiary roles in marketing activities and their effects on performance , 2003 .

[17]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[18]  Frances J. Milliken,et al.  Shades of Silence: Emerging Themes and Future Directions for Research on Silence in Organizations , 2003 .

[19]  Frances J. Milliken,et al.  Speaking Up, Remaining Silent: The Dynamics of Voice and Silence in Organizations , 2003 .

[20]  Yadong Luo,et al.  Market-seeking MNEs in an emerging market: How parent–subsidiary links shape overseas success , 2003 .

[21]  J. Birkinshaw,et al.  CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS , 2002 .

[22]  John F. Helliwell,et al.  Globalization and well-being , 2002 .

[23]  Kathleen M. Eisenhardt,et al.  Architectural Innovation and Modular Corporate Forms , 2001 .

[24]  José Santos,et al.  From global to metanational: how companies win in the knowledge economy , 2001, UBIQ.

[25]  W. Bearden,et al.  Dependence, Trust, and Relational Behavior on the Part of Foreign Subsidiary Marketing Operations: Implications for Managing Global Marketing Operations , 2001 .

[26]  M. Schulz.  THE UNCERTAIN RELEVANCE OF NEWNESS: ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE FLOWS , 2001 .

[27]  Katherine A. Lawrence,et al.  Moves that matter: Issue selling and organizational change. , 2001 .

[28]  A. Rugman,et al.  Subsidiary‐specific advantages in multinational enterprises , 2001 .

[29]  Morten T. Hansen,et al.  Competing for Attention in Knowledge Markets: Electronic Document Dissemination in a Management Consulting Company , 2001 .

[30]  G. Boocock.  Entrepreneurship in the Global Firm , 2000 .

[31]  Frances J. Milliken,et al.  Organizational Silence: A Barrier to Change and Development in a Pluralistic World , 2000 .

[32]  Sanjay Sharma.  Managerial Interpretations and Organizational Context as Predictors of Corporate Choice of Environmental Strategy , 2000 .

[33]  Sharon O'donnell,et al.  MANAGING FOREIGN SUBSIDIARIES: AGENTS OF HEADQUARTERS, OR AN INTERDEPENDENT NETWORK? , 2000 .

[34]  Anne-Wil Harzing,et al.  Cross-National Industrial Mail Surveys: Why Do Response Rates Differ between Countries? , 2000 .

[35]  M. Porter.  Location, Competition, and Economic Development: Local Clusters in a Global Economy , 2000 .

[36]  N. Mclaughlin.  The sociology of philosophies: A global theory of intellectual change , 2000 .

[37]  T. Pedersen,et al.  Subsidiary Influence and Corporate Learning - Centres of Excellence in Danish Foreign-Owned Firms , 2000 .

[38]  Tobias J. Moskowitz,et al.  Home Bias at Home: Local Equity Preference in Domestic Portfolios , 1999 .

[39]  E. Morrison,et al.  Taking Charge At Work: Extrarole Efforts to Initiate Workplace Change , 1999 .

[40]  Paul W. Beamish,et al.  Geographic Scope, Product Diversification and the Corporate Performance of Japanese Firms , 1999 .

[41]  J. Birkinshaw,et al.  Multinational Subsidiary Evolution: Capability and Charter Change in Foreign-Owned Subsidiary Companies , 1998 .

[42]  Kenneth S. Law,et al.  Toward A Taxonomy of Multidimensional Constructs , 1998 .

[43]  Rex B. Kline,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling , 1998 .

[44]  J. Birkinshaw,et al.  BUILDING FIRM-SPECIFIC ADVANTAGES IN MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS: THE ROLE OF SUBSIDIARY INITIATIVE , 1998 .

[45]  J. Dunning.  Location and the multinational enterprise: A neglected factor? , 1998 .

[46]  W. Ocasio.  TOWARDS AN ATTENTION-BASED VIEW OF THE FIRM , 1997 .

[47]  Refik Culpan.  The Differentiated Network: Organizing Multinational Corporations for Value Creation , 1997 .

[48]  Kenneth D. Butterfield,et al.  Punishment from the Manager's Perspective: A Grounded Investigation and Inductive Model , 1996 .

[49]  K. Eisenhardt,et al.  The Evolution of Intracorporate Domains: Divisional Charter Losses in High-Technology, Multidivisional Corporations , 1996 .

[50]  Kendall Roth,et al.  Foreign Subsidiary Compensation Strategy: An Agency Theory Perspective , 1996 .

[51]  Yao-Su Hu,et al.  The International Transferability of the Firm's Advantages , 1995 .

[52]  Sumantra Ghoshal,et al.  Changing the Role of Top Management: Beyond Strategy to Purpose , 1994 .

[53]  Andrew Campbell,et al.  Corporate-Level Strategy: Creating Value in the Multibusiness Company , 1994 .

[54]  S. Hunt,et al.  The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing , 1994 .

[55]  J. Dutton,et al.  SELLING ISSUES TO TOP MANAGEMENT , 1993 .

[56]  C. Coulton,et al.  Interaction Effects in Multiple Regression , 1993 .

[57]  Hal B. Gregersen,et al.  Antecedents to Commitment to A Parent Company and A Foreign Operation , 1992 .

[58]  Alfred D. Chandler.  The functions of the HQ unit in the multibusiness firm , 1991 .

[59]  Tim Smithin,et al.  Mapping Strategic Thought , 1991 .

[60]  Vincent di Norcia.  Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution , 1991 .

[61]  Richard A. D'Aveni,et al.  Crisis and the Content of Managerial Communications: A Study of the Focus of Attention of Top Managers in Surviving and Failing Firms. , 1990 .

[62]  J. Jarillo,et al.  DIFFERENT ROLES FOR SUBSIDIARIES: THE CASE OF MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS IN SPAIN , 1990 .

[63]  C. Bartlett,et al.  The Multinational Corporation as an Interorganizational Network , 1990 .

[64]  J. Dutton,et al.  IMPORTANT DIMENSIONS OF STRATEGIC ISSUES: SEPARATING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF* , 1989 .

[65]  Mark J. Martinko,et al.  Impression Management in Organizations , 1988 .

[66]  James C. Anderson,et al.  STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING IN PRACTICE: A REVIEW AND RECOMMENDED TWO-STEP APPROACH , 1988 .

[67]  M. Evans.  A Monte Carlo study of the effects of correlated method variance in moderated multiple regression analysis , 1985 .

[68]  Robert A. Burgelman.  A Model of the Interaction of Strategic Behavior, Corporate Context, and the Concept of Strategy , 1983 .

[69]  R. Bagozzi,et al.  Representing and testing organizational theories: A holistic construal. , 1982 .

[70]  O. Williamson,et al.  Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications. , 1977 .

[71]  Terry S. Overton,et al.  Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys , 1977 .

[72]  Johan P. Olsen,et al.  Ambiguity and choice in organizations , 1976 .

[73]  J. K. Benson.  The Interorganizational Network as a Political Economy , 1975 .

[74]  J. Pennings,et al.  A Strategic Contingencies' Theory of Intraorganizational Power , 1971 .

[75]  A. Hirschman,et al.  Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States , 1970 .

[76]  S. S. Stevens.  Listening and Attention. , 1970 .

[77]  P. Lawrence,et al.  Differentiation and Integration in Complex Organizations , 1967 .

[78]  A. Strauss,et al.  The Discovery of Grounded Theory , 1967 .

[79]  M. Shubik,et al.  A Behavioral Theory of the Firm. , 1964 .

[80]  H. Simon,et al.  Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organization. , 1959 .

[81]  F. E..  Principles of Economics , 1890, Nature.