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Zeng R(R, Grøgaard B, Björkman I. Navigating MNE control and coordination: A critical review and directions for future research. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES 2023:1-24. [PMID: 37359752 PMCID: PMC9993393 DOI: 10.1057/s41267-023-00600-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2021] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
Control and coordination efforts are at the heart of MNE functioning. Yet, our review reveals that the literature on MNE control and coordination lacks conceptual clarity, which may hamper the development of the field. In this critical review, we synthesize the literature over the past decade using a conceptual framework rooted in new internalization theory. Research remains fairly coarse regarding how various configurations and interactions of control and coordination mechanisms affect intended outcomes. We note a paucity of multilevel studies, direct investigations of microfoundations, and comparison studies between intra- and inter-MNE relationships. Insufficient attention has been paid to adaptation issues and the impact of external dynamics on the need for, and operationalization of, control and coordination mechanisms. These gaps are concerning, since external trends are changing the organizational landscape and MNE boundaries are becoming increasingly fuzzy. Going forward, a more nuanced conceptualization of outcomes is needed, one that specifies proximal outcomes which mediate the achievement of distant goals. We use our augmented conceptual framework to identify other key areas for future research. We also call for more research on how disruptive forces affect both the use and outcomes of organizational mechanisms aimed at achieving control and coordination. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1057/s41267-023-00600-7.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rong (Ratchel) Zeng
- Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba, 66 Chancellors Circle, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada
| | | | - Ingmar Björkman
- Hanken School of Economics, P.O. Box 479, 00101 Helsinki, Finland
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Becker MC, Rullani F, Zirpoli F. The role of digital artefacts in early stages of distributed innovation processes. RESEARCH POLICY 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2021.104349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Subramanian H, Mitra S, Ransbotham S. Capturing Value in Platform Business Models That Rely on User-Generated Content. ORGANIZATION SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2020.1408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Business models increasingly depend on inputs from outside traditional organizational boundaries. For example, platforms that generate revenue from advertising, subscription, or referral fees often rely on user-generated content (UGC). But there is considerable uncertainty on how UGC creates value—and who benefits from it—because voluntary user contributions cannot be mandated or contracted or its quality assured through service-level agreements. In fact, high valuations of these platform firms have generated significant interest, debate, and even euphoria among investors and entrepreneurs. Network effects underlie these high valuations; the value of participation for an individual user increases exponentially as more users actively participate. Thus, many platform strategies initially focus on generating usage with the expectation of profits later. This premise is fraught with uncertainty because high current usage may not translate into future profits when switching costs are low. We argue that the type of user-generated content affects switching costs for the user and, thus, affects the value a platform can capture. Using data about the valuation, traffic, and other parameters from several sources, empirical results indicate greater value uncertainty in platforms with user-generated content than in platforms based on firm-generated content. Platform firms are unable to capture the entire value from network effects, but firms with interaction content can better capture value from network effects through higher switching costs than firms with user-contributed content. Thus, we clarify how switching costs enable value for the platform from network effects and UGC in the absence of formal contracts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hemang Subramanian
- College of Business, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199
| | - Sabyasachi Mitra
- The Warrington College of Business, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611
| | - Sam Ransbotham
- Carroll School of Management, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467
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Baumann O, Becker MC, Horrmann I. Ensuring Adaptation While Seeking Efficiency: Tiered Outsourcing and Skip-Level Supplier Ties in the Airbus A350 Program. ORGANIZATION SCIENCE 2020. [DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2019.1341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
When outsourcing design tasks, firms want their suppliers to be both efficient and adaptive. Whereas efficiency is necessary to reap economic gains from outsourcing, adaptation is required to deal with interdependencies as the design evolves. Achieving both objectives simultaneously, however, is difficult because procurement contracts require a trade-off between providing incentives for efficiency and facilitating adaptation. In the presence of formal contracts that provide strong incentives for efficiency, ensuring adaptation thus requires effective relational contracts between the buyer and the supplier. But because the focus of prior research has been on dyadic buyer–supplier relationships, it is unclear how the efficiency–adaptation trade-off can be mitigated in the multitier supplier systems that are common in many industries. Addressing this gap, we argue that in hierarchical supplier systems, relational contracts between contractual partners become more important, but at the same time harder to establish, than in single-tier supplier systems. An in-depth case study of the adaptive frictions that arose in the Airbus A350 program allows us to illustrate this challenge of tiered outsourcing. Moreover, we show how Airbus came to resolve the frictions by leveraging skip-level ties—direct informal contacts to lower-level suppliers with which no contractual relationship existed, thus replacing the archetypal notion of a supplier hierarchy by a more complex relationship structure. We discuss the boundary conditions of our findings and suggest propositions for the emergence of skip-level ties in tiered outsourcing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver Baumann
- Strategic Organization Design Unit, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark
| | - Markus C. Becker
- Strategic Organization Design Unit, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark
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Choudhury P(R. Intra-firm Geographic Mobility: Value Creation Mechanisms and Future Research Directions*. ADVANCES IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT-A RESEARCH ANNUAL 2020. [DOI: 10.1108/s0742-332220200000041011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Srikanth K, Nandkumar A, Mani D, Kale P. How Firms Build Isolating Mechanisms for Knowledge: A Study in Offshore Research and Development Captives. STRATEGY SCIENCE 2020. [DOI: 10.1287/stsc.2020.0101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Understanding how firms protect their knowledge from leakage is becoming increasingly important, especially when knowledge is not well protected by legal mechanisms such as patents. The rapid rise in research and development (R&D) activities taking place in offshore locations that only offer weak legal protection for intellectual property provides the ideal context to study this question. Using interview and survey data from captive R&D centers of multinational firms in India, we (1) identify five organizational practices that firms use to protect their knowledge from leaking to competitors in offshore locations, (2) consider whether these practices limit knowledge leakage or limit damage from leaked knowledge, and (3) explore whether they are complements or substitutes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kannan Srikanth
- Fisher College of Business, Management and Human Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210
- Centre for Leadership and Management Practice, Indian School of Business, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana 500111, India
| | - Anand Nandkumar
- Indian School of Business, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana 500111, India
| | - Deepa Mani
- Indian School of Business, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana 500111, India
| | - Prashant Kale
- Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77252
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Gkeredakis M, Constantinides P. Phenomenon-based problematization: Coordinating in the digital era. INFORMATION AND ORGANIZATION 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.infoandorg.2019.100254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Brandl K. The impact of offshoring on knowledge‐intensive services: A study of activities in service production processes. GLOBAL STRATEGY JOURNAL 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/gsj.1352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kristin Brandl
- Peter B. Gustavson School of BusinessUniversity of Victoria Victoria British Columbia Canada
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Ko DG, Lee G, Keil M, Xia W. Project Control, Coordination, and Performance in Complex Information Systems Outsourcing. JOURNAL OF COMPUTER INFORMATION SYSTEMS 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/08874417.2019.1606687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dong-Gil Ko
- University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | | | - Mark Keil
- Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Weidong Xia
- Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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Reviewing, Revisiting, and Renewing the Foundations of Organization Design. ADVANCES IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT-A RESEARCH ANNUAL 2018. [DOI: 10.1108/s0742-332220180000040012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Puranam P. The Organizational Foundations of Behavioral Strategy. ADVANCES IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT-A RESEARCH ANNUAL 2018. [DOI: 10.1108/s0742-332220180000039006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Valente M, Oliver C. Meta-Organization Formation and Sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa. ORGANIZATION SCIENCE 2018. [DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2017.1191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mike Valente
- York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada
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Lawrence M. Taking Stock of the Ability to Change: The Effect of Prior Experience. ORGANIZATION SCIENCE 2018. [DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2017.1181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Megan Lawrence
- Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37203
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Zimmermann A, Oshri I, Lioliou E, Gerbasi A. Sourcing in or out: Implications for social capital and knowledge sharing. JOURNAL OF STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jsis.2017.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Friesl M, Silberzahn R. Managerial Coordination Challenges in the Alignment of Capabilities and New Subsidiary Charters in MNEs. ORGANIZATION STUDIES 2017. [DOI: 10.1177/0170840617693271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Subsidiary-level change requires the alignment of subsidiary charters and capabilities. Yet, the mechanisms through which the alignment of charters and capabilities unfolds are not yet well understood. In this paper, we investigate alignment from the perspective of managerial coordination. Drawing on a longitudinal study of a global IT firm, we identify three coordination mechanisms (charter-, experience-, and interaction-based coordination). By tracing the shifts in these coordination mechanisms over time and by specifying the implications of each mechanism for capability level change, we explain how managerial coordination influences alignment via subsidiary level capability change as well as alignment via the potential renegotiation of charters. This also allows us to provide new insights into situations of misalignment by explaining that particular mechanisms of coordination may become a source of decoupling between subsidiary actions and HQ mandates and may also result in capability level inertia. Moreover, while prior research has already acknowledged the role of interaction-based coordination for capability level change we show how and why such a mechanism of coordination emerges.
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Kremser W, Schreyögg G. The Dynamics of Interrelated Routines: Introducing the Cluster Level. ORGANIZATION SCIENCE 2016. [DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2015.1042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Helfat CE, Campo-Rembado MA. Integrative Capabilities, Vertical Integration, and Innovation Over Successive Technology Lifecycles. ORGANIZATION SCIENCE 2016. [DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2015.1045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Mihalache M, Mihalache OR. A Decisional Framework of Offshoring: Integrating Insights from 25 Years of Research to Provide Direction for Future*. DECISION SCIENCES 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/deci.12206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mashiho Mihalache
- Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship; NEOMA Business School; 59 Rue Pierre Taittinger 51100 Reims France
| | - Oli R. Mihalache
- Business Policy Department; Wilfrid Laurier University; 5 University Avenue West Waterloo Ontario Canada
- Management and Organization Department; VU University Amsterdam; De Boelelaan 1105 1081 HV Amsterdam Netherlands
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Offshoring of Services: A Review of the Literature and Organizing Framework. MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL REVIEW 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s11575-015-0270-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Mani D, Srikanth K, Bharadwaj A. Efficacy of R&D Work in Offshore Captive Centers: An Empirical Study of Task Characteristics, Coordination Mechanisms, and Performance. INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH 2014. [DOI: 10.1287/isre.2014.0552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Kim K, Mithas S, Whitaker J, Roy PK. Research Note—Industry-Specific Human Capital and Wages: Evidence from the Business Process Outsourcing Industry. INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH 2014. [DOI: 10.1287/isre.2014.0532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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