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The purpose of this paper is to retrace the sources of robustness of the operations of Russian manufacturing subsidiaries of western multinational corporation (MNC) during the downturn, from the point of view of applied human resource management (HRM) practices.

A repeated survey of heads of Russian manufacturing plants of western MNCs was implemented. The same respondents aswered the similar questions in 2014 and in 2016.

The current evolution of HRM arrangements in the Russian manufacturing subsidiaries of MNCs can be explained by an attempt for ambidexterity. On the one hand, managers of the Russian manufacturing subsidiaries of MNCs attempt to prevent employee alienation. Thus, they retain permanent contracts and preserve guarantees of home-take pay. On the other hand, there is the elimination of several social benefits. In the author’s opinion, the cost-minimization approach has been used excessively. The authors speculate that the system of social benefits will need to be adjusted again to transform the system from one that is “crisis-proof” to one that is “stagnation adapted.”

The findings provide a basis for a broader discussion on mutation of HRM systems in manufacturing subsidiaries of MNCs facing deteriorating market conditions.

The paper identifies the factors that shape the intensity and perceived effectiveness of communications between heads of manufacturing units of multinational corporations (MNCs).

The paper is based on a survey of heads of MNCs’ manufacturing subsidiaries in Russia.

The authors found that the intensity of most inter-unit communication channels depends on the speed and magnitude of the changes experienced by manufacturing subsidiaries in products and production technologies. The assessment of the efficiency of a communication channel with high media richness strongly correlates to the intensity of its use.

Subsidiary managers are quickly mastering most easy-to-use channels (i.e. e-mail exchange, talking on the phone, reading corporate magazines) by themselves, but are minimizing their participation in time-consuming activities (i.e. corporate-wide and special conferences, arranging informal meetings with foreign peers) unless they have to manage rapid changes in products and production technologies. Thus, to intensify the voluntary use of inter-unit channels with high media richness, headquarters should instill in subsidiary managers the value of cooperation between manufacturing units. Moreover, the effectiveness of inter-unit channels with high media richness should be properly demonstrated to subsidiary managers to assuage their initial reluctance.

This paper presents communications between manufacturing units of multinational corporations not as the transfer of abstract knowledge but as routine processes of exchange of detailed information on valuable improvements of the existing practices and solutions to technical and organizational problems common in facility development and mastering new products.

This paper aims to outline the current and future influence of digitalization on the corporate parenting styles (CPSs) of multinational corporations (MNCs).

The authors used conceptual modeling in this study.

The authors identified five types of CPSs (Hypnos, Cronus, Rhea, Zeus and Athena). The overall impact of digitalization on CPSs is related to new, formidable opportunities for decreasing costs and increasing the efficiency of the intra-corporate transfer of knowledge and talent. Furthermore, digitalization leads to greater tightness in subsidiaries’ performance targets and greater intensity of control over subsidiaries’ activities, lower degrees of subsidiary autonomy and lower level of trust between the corporate headquarters and subsidiary managers. These effects endanger the existence of two CPSs (Hypnos and Athena) and significant changes for the other three CPSs.

Digitalization may lead to more homogeneous corporations, with the lower variety of CPSs and the greater centralization of decision-making in corporate and regional headquarters and stronger control on operations and performance of subsidiaries. Increased opportunities of a horizontal value transfer (knowledge) within the corporation will present an additional competitive advantage of subsidiaries of MNCs. The increased ability and willingness of corporate and regional headquarters of value appropriation from subsidiaries in different forms (profit, revenues, knowledge and talent) will force subsidiaries to use that additional competitive advantage to become more aggressive competitors in local and global markets.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt in the academic literature to predict the mutation of CPSs of MNCs under the impact of digitalization.

This paper aims to explore the phenomenon of ribbon-cutting ceremonies for new overseas subsidiaries and demonstrates the possibility of modifying such ceremonies to place greater emphasis on intra-organizational communications.

This is a careful study of 200 videos on 73 ribbon-cutting ceremonies in Russia between 2012 and 2018.

Under the current prevalent design, ribbon-cutting ceremonies mostly entail inter-organizational communication, i.e. communication between foreign investors and representatives of the authorities of the host country. Meanwhile, in addition to the standard ribbon-cutting ceremonies, it is observed that several videos on intra-organizational communication, i.e. pseudoformal meetings between the team from the corporate headquarters and employees of a newly built factory. During such meetings, top corporate executives express the importance of the factory vis-à-vis the future of the whole corporation, state their expectations for the further development of the factory’s production facilities, postulate the desired working atmosphere in the factory and appeal for the commitment and assistance of the employees in safeguarding the future of the investment.

The findings provide a basis for a broader discussion on the role of ribbon-cutting ceremonies as staged large-scale events organized by firms to articulate, highlight, disseminate, rationalize, as well as mobilize internal and external support for their strategy.

This study aimed to reveal the policies applied to determine the total expenses for managerial remuneration in manufacturing subsidiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The author analyzed the annual financial reports of Russian manufacturing subsidiaries containing data on managerial remuneration and compared the dynamics of annual revenues and the amount of annual managerial remuneration.

The author identified four types of policies regarding the total amount of managerial remuneration. In a minority of cases, when revenues decreased, the share of the total amount of managerial remuneration in total revenues also decreased. The author also observed “payment for efforts”; although revenues decreased in 2020, the share of the total amount of managerial remuneration in total revenues increased. In 17% of cases, when revenue increased, the share of the total amount of managerial remuneration in revenue also increased. Finally, in 50% of cases, the COVID-19 pandemic served as a pretext to generate savings from the reduction in the total amount of managerial remuneration despite the increase in revenues.

This is the first study to use real financial reports to evaluate the dynamics of the total amount and share of managerial remuneration in revenue during a crisis.

This paper aims to present the impact of several likely trajectories of development for global industries, namely, re-shoring, regionalization, diversification and replication, recently identified by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, on the evolution of the corporate parenting styles (CPSs) of multinational corporations (MNCs).

This viewpoint presents a novel view of CPSs as a set of relationships between the corporate centers of MNCs and their subsidiaries, including domestic ones, identifies the most likely connections between anticipated trajectories of development in global industries and the evolution of CPSs of MNCs and outlines directions for further research.

The anticipated trajectories of the development of global industries may result in changes in prevailing CPSs and lead to the proliferation of previously less common parenting styles. Although many of the anticipated changes in CPSs may be pursued by corporate headquarters (CHQs), a combination of powerful subsidiaries putting bottom-up pressure on CHQs and powerful owners capable of imposing requirements on top management teams and generating top-down pressure may affect the CPSs used by corporations.

The authors connect possible trajectories of development for global industries with the evolution of CPSs of MNCs.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new research construct to depict more accurately organisational structure and the direction of organisational changes in large multinational corporations (MNCs).

The paper presents an overview of the existing literature on the phenomenon of anisotropy in natural sciences and the organisation of large corporations, and transforms an identified phenomenon into a research construct of organisational theory.

This paper demonstrates that anisotropy, that is, the differences in the speed and conductivity of the movement of capital (money), products (goods and services), ideas (knowledge) and talent (people) in different directions within the corporation (from the centre to the subsidiaries, from the subsidiaries to the corporate centre and between subsidiaries) is the normal state of the internal space of the MNC. Anisotropy is increasing with the on-going restructuring of the global economic order. This leads to the divergence of business units in MNCs into the core and the periphery.

The paper outlines a series of promising research avenues in organisational studies.

The paper provides a novel treatment of the composition of MNCs.

This study aims to describe how large corporations, facing digitalization and sustainability, can use established models and theories to find appropriate organizations design for these “new” challenges.

The information processing perspective presented by Jay Galbraith (Galbraith, 1974) can be an appropriate platform to analyze organizational requirements, also in new complex and uncertain situation. The authors use the Miles and Snow (1978) typology to explain how traditional design can be appropriate in the new world of sustainability and digitalization.

With the new types of business models, the design should have a holistic view. The design should be split into three levels: the corporation as a whole, the large business units and the operating units. Each of these units can follow traditional organizational forms with an internal market-based coordination combined with digital platform systems.

Both large and small corporations now face big challenges related to adapting their business models, managerial processes and organizational structures for digitalization and sustainability. Digitalization and sustainability combine the various pieces of the corporation into a tightly coupled network with a real time coordination of activities making it difficult to obtain local adjustments without disturbing the whole. At the same time, there is a strong need for both being locally agile with a focus on effectiveness and at the same time being very efficient. The literature calls for new organizational forms to handle this situation. The authors show that “old” designs properly coordinated can be an appropriate design as well.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the attitudes of Russian managers are affected by personal attributes, environmental conditions and also cognitive processes.

Based on social cognitive theory, the authors developed hypotheses and tested them against data collected from 173 Russian managers via an online survey. A linear regression analysis revealed several determinants of ethical attitudes within the Russian context.

The findings suggest that personal values (i.e. political orientation), environmental conditions (i.e. hierarchical level, ownership – state-owned versus private – of the current employer, industry in which a manager works) as well as cognitive processes (i.e. the presence (absence) of multilingualism at the workplace) strongly affect ethical attitudes of Russian managers in several issues related to both job ethics (relations inside the organization) and business ethics (relations outside the organization).

Revealing a positive effect of multilingualism as cognitive process on managers' ethical attitudes, this study calls for incorporating a second lingua franca, for example, English, within the working context.

The study provides an in-depth investigation of the determinants of ethical attitudes in Russia. Conducting a single-country study, the authors are able to reveal locally meaningful determinants that may otherwise be overlooked.

This paper aims to detail the actions of the Russian subsidiary of a multinational IT company, during the COVID–19 pandemic, aimed toward the exploration and exploitation of unexpected business opportunities. It depicts the strategic and tactical actions of the subsidiary and corporate initiatives during the pandemic, revealing tensions between the subsidiary and its corporate parent on implementation of each’s initiatives.

A case study is presented, based on action research, using internal documents from the company under consideration, participation in various working meetings, meetings with customers and interviews with subsidiary management.

The strategic actions implemented by the subsidiary during the pandemic exemplify strategic agility, i.e. a set of activities carried out by a company that create value in a turbulent and unpredictable environment which in turn require systematic variations in specific processes, products and structures. Some of those variations included the unauthorized amendment of internal corporate rules, leading to tensions between the subsidiary and parent company. This case illustrates that such parent-subsidiary tensions are an inevitable element of achieving agility at the subsidiary level, especially during rapid and unpredictable changes in the business environment.

This study presents the flow of events in one multinational corporation subsidiary. However, the authors speculate that similar situations (subsidiary actions exploiting emergent business opportunities and which have been restricted by rigid internal corporate rules and regulations and low receptivity from corporate headquarters) occurred in many multinational corporation subsidiaries, aiming to explore and exploit nascent business opportunities in local markets during the pandemic.

The study confirms the necessity for the review of the functioning of the corporate immune system of large multinational corporations to allow more subsidiary initiatives to flourish than before the pandemic.

The paper presents a case of strategic agility at subsidiary level during the pandemic. It also uncovers the black-boxing managerial decision-making processes in headquarters-subsidiary relations during the extreme turbulence of business environment.