Headquarters knowledge and the generation of value in multinational companies

Beskrivning

This project focuses on headquarters knowledge and how it relates to the possibilities of contributing to value generation in multinational companies. Research indicates that headquarters intervention in subsidiary activities may negatively affect for example innovation performance. We argue that headquarters ability to generate value for its subsidiaries is contingent on its learning processes and knowledge about internal and external relationships. However, research has paid limited attention to these problems. We do not know a lot about how headquarters generate knowledge that provides the foundation for its actions. Also, we know little about knowledge contingencies required for potentially generating value. Moreover, there is a dearth of research and a paucity of knowledge related to what is construed as valuable from the perspective of different actors. Consequently, the focus of the project is on (a) headquarters knowledge sources, (b) headquarters interventions in subsidiary activities with the intention of adding value, (c) perceptions of headquarters value added, and (d) performance implications of headquarters value added attempts for subsidiaries and the multinational corporation.