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This study aims to investigate the drivers of political embeddedness and the possible outcome in terms of autonomy and subsidiary unique competences.

This study draws on resource dependence theory and applies structural equation modeling on a sample of 193 subsidiaries.

Political embeddedness is confirmed as a source of potential autonomy and the development of competences and is usually boosted by previous existing networks at the internal and external levels.

The authors investigate and discuss how multinational corporations can leverage political resources in host-country political arenas, extending their understanding of the interplay between political activities and market strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion on how multinational company (MNC) headquarters (HQs) can manage the existing coopetition paradox to ensure innovation within the MNC. In contrast to the rather scarce previous research, the authors argue that HQ needs to solve the coopetition paradox under the sway of a parenting paradox. Hence, HQ faces a dual paradox.

Drawing on the literature on HQ’s role during MNCs’ innovation processes, this conceptual paper revisits the previously suggested HQ measures to enable coopetition among subsidiaries. By applying a sheer ignorance perspective, the authors contribute with a more nuanced understanding of the HQ’s role in innovation activities.

The article identifies four challenges as the HQ faces a parenting paradox that hinders its ability to solve the coopetition paradox: context specificity of subsidiaries’ innovation work, normative expectations of subsidiary managers, potential opportunistic behavior of HQ manager and HQ underestimation of needed resources. The article suggests that HQ needs to become more informed and preferably even embedded in the local innovation networks of its most important subsidiaries and that coopetition should not be managed solely on an HQ level.

Advocating a sheer ignorance perspective, the article pioneers in discussing the role that HQ plays in managing coopetition among subsidiaries in innovation activities.

The paper aims to investigate key aspects of climate change adaptation strategies of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) across two different climate-vulnerable country contexts, developed, i.e. Australia and developing, i.e. Bangladesh, while identifying the key factors affecting the formulation and implementation of such strategies.

The research uses a qualitative research method using interviews and document analysis while considering distinctive factors manifest in Australia and Bangladesh and focussing on the agricultural seed business sector.

The research reveals that no specific pattern of adaptation strategies exists across MNCs. They either follow a proactive “deliberate” strategy or a reactive “emergent” strategy. MNCs also follow a distinct strategy, “subliminal”, i.e. unintended or inadvertent strategy, by following the “business as usual” approach.

In recent years, many MNCs have started embracing strategies to reduce their negative environmental footprint but barely adopted any formal strategies to adapt to climate change impacts on their business operations. This study provides insights into the existing climate change adaptation strategies of MNCs, which could be beneficial for companies in better planning and implementing their existing as well as future climate change adaptation strategies.

Based on a developed-developing country comparison and together with a novel focus on the agricultural seed business sector, the paper has used a variety of business strategies in providing insights and understanding of the status of MNC climate change adaptation strategies. The research has identified and coined the term, “subliminal” or unintended strategy as a new addition to the MNC adaptation strategy literature.

This study aims to analyze the knowledge transfer process for implementing a company-specific production system (XPS) from a subsidiary of a multinational corporation (MNC) to its local suppliers.

A case study approach was adopted and applied in an automotive supply chain. Empirical data were collected from interviews, observations and internal documents.

The literature shows that the successful XPS implementation depends on the ability to transfer XPS knowledge; the motivation of the source unit to share XPS knowledge; the value and nature of knowledge embedded in XPS; the effectiveness of individual, social and organizational transfer mechanisms; the motivation and absorptive capacity of the target unit and, the organizational, social and relational contexts in which XPS is transferred. Based on the research findings, we develop 12 propositions and presented them in a framework.

This paper expands and enriches the literature on the knowledge transfer process of XPS. The proposed framework establishes theoretical propositions and associations raised by qualitative analysis. However, these propositions are potentially testable on a larger scale for broader generalization.

Managers can recognize critical factors and relationships needed to improve the XPS implementation from an MNC subsidiary to its local suppliers.

The proposed framework provides a scheme to capture the essential critical factors affecting a successful XPS implementation between MNC subsidiaries and local suppliers. Moreover, we found relevant associations between pairs of critical factors that were not identified in the literature.

The main goal of the article is to identify, analyze and evaluate the mediating role of HRM outcomes in the relationships between employee retention (ER) and company performance results, with a specific focus on discerning any shifts or differences in this mediation across non-crisis and crisis times in the foreign subsidiaries of MNCs.

The empirical research covered 200 MNCs headquartered in Central Europe. A Computer-Aided Telephone Interviewing (CATI) method was used for data collection. The raw data was adjusted using the Efficiency Index (EI) to accurately represent the relationships between the variables under study. The research hypotheses were examined, and the mediating effects were assessed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).

The research findings provide valuable insights by exploring the mediating role of HRM outcomes between ER and company performance results, highlighting HRM’s crucial role in enhancing results in finance, innovation and quality, particularly during crises. They underscore the strategic importance of HRM in fostering organizational resilience and innovation.

The study offers a new methodological contribution through introducing the EI for a precise quantitative evaluation of the relationships between ER, HRM and company performance results. However, the greatest added value of this article is the creation of the ER-HRM Mediation Theory of Organizational Resilience through Innovativeness in Crisis.

Foreign subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs) operate in complex and competitive international environments, implement market and non-market strategies, manage resources and value-added activities and contribute to the overall performance of their parent firms. Thus, the research question on the determinants of MNE foreign subsidiaries’ performance is of interest to managers and academic researchers. The empirical literature has flourished over the recent decades; however, the domains are fragmented, and the findings are inclusive. The purpose of this study is to systematically review, analyse and synthesize the empirical articles in this area, identify research gaps and suggest a future research agenda.

This study uses the qualitative content analysis method in reviewing and analysing 150 articles published in 24 scholarly journals during the period 2000–2023.

The literature uses a variety of theoretical perspectives to examine the key determinants of subsidiary performance which can be grouped into six major domains, namely, home- and host country-level factors; distance between home and host countries; the characteristics of parent firms and of subsidiaries; and governance mechanisms (the establishment modes and ownership strategy, subsidiary autonomy and the use of home country expatriates for transferring knowledge from the headquarters and controlling foreign subsidiaries). A range of objective and subjective indicators are used to measure subsidiary performance. Yet, the research shows a lack of broader integration of theories and presents inconsistent theoretical predictions, inconclusive empirical findings and estimation bias, which hinder our understanding of how the determinants independently and jointly shape the performance of foreign subsidiaries.

This study provides a comprehensive, nuanced and systematic review that synthesizes and clarifies the determinants of subsidiary performance, offers deeper insights from both theoretical, methodological and empirical aspects and proposes some promising avenues for future research directions.

This study explores the evolutionary relationship between multimarket contact (MMC) and competitive actions among multinational corporations (MNCs). It aims to enhance the understanding of international market competition by incorporating insights into dynamic competition and parent–subsidiary relationships.

A structured content analysis was used to identify the competitive actions of global shipping liners. The dataset includes 8,204 actions identified across nine global arenas. Data were collected from 6,553 monthly news articles on Alphaliner. The period covered is from January 1, 2015, to June 30, 2023.

The results indicate that a higher degree of MMC leads to greater competitive aggressiveness, supporting the combination of mutual forbearance and the Red Queen effect. Additionally, market importance triggers the mutual forbearance effect, whereas competitive rivalry is weaker for overlapping cross-market contacts. Furthermore, local competitive intensity increases MNCs' contact and echoes the Red Queen effect, especially for subsidiaries facing increasing pressure from local responsiveness.

Limitations include reliance on Alphaliner, potential inaccuracies from proxy variables, and unmeasured headquarters–subsidiary interactions. Future research should explore other industries and extend the study period for broader applicability and generalization.

By interlacing mutual forbearance with the Red Queen effect within a coopetition framework, managers can devise strategies to balance competition and collaboration, thereby ensuring long-term viability and growth in global markets.

This study extends the concept of MMC to the context of global shipping liners, a previously underexplored sector. Unlike earlier research, this study empirically examines MMC dynamics globally and integrates mutual forbearance and the Red Queen effect.

The objective of this study is to analyze the process of reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) occurring in multinational companies (MNCs), examining whether headquarters' absorptive capacity and the human resource management (HRM) practices developed by the parent unit influence success.

The data were collected through a questionnaire completed by the human resource manager of multinational company (MNC) headquarters. The analysis has been carried out on a sample of 115 Spanish MNCs by using structural equation models (SEM).

The results indicate that a parent firm's absorptive capacity positively influences RKT and that, in turn, this absorptive capacity is greater if headquarters implement certain practices of employee staffing, training, participation and performance appraisal.

This study extends existing research on RKT by examining the absorptive capacity of headquarters. Its main contribution is to provide evidence that MNCs can improve their RKT through HRM practices developed by the parent unit. This is original because most studies on RKT focus on HRM practices used by subsidiaries.

The stand-alone scholarly conversations on host-country nationals (HCNs) and cultural intelligence (CQ) have developed over decades but have remained distant from each other. This paper aims to bridge them and explain why such a link can offer an initial understanding of HCNs’ CQ and yield new insights that could enrich and extend existing knowledge in the two literature streams.

This conceptual paper establishes a set of arguments that explain why and how the scholarly conversations on HCNs and CQ can be bridged. The authors supplement these arguments with three specific avenues for research that can guide new scholarly inquiry. Each avenue is accompanied with specific research questions that the authors find promising for generating new insights into issues related to HCNs’ CQ.

The two scholarly conversations that the authors link are strong, vibrant and mature. Each has yielded substantial conceptual and theoretical insights and produced rich empirical evidence. They have, however, remained relatively separate from each other. To bring them together, the authors propose three avenues by considering the role of HCNs’ CQ: in their cultural adjustment, for knowledge sharing and when supporting expatriates. The authors outline the implications of such studies for HCNs’ careers, performance and well-being, for the subsidiaries that constitute their immediate work environment and, for multinational corporations as HCNs’ broader organizational settings.

CQ is an important enabler of effective intercultural interactions in culturally diverse settings, precisely the types of encounters that HCNs have with their expatriate colleagues. Surprisingly, the HCN literature has not crossed paths with CQ research in a substantial manner. The authors rectify this by establishing that bridging the two conversations is meaningful and has a high potential for deepening the understanding of HCNs’ CQ as an under-researched but important phenomenon.

Parent companies usually control a subsidiary’s operations and decision-making processes and policies. This study highlights how subsidiary research and development (R&D) contributes to a parent company’s global strategy formulation in the context of changes in the integrated responsiveness framework and transnational models.

We conducted an interview survey with 149 companies in Japan, of which 92 engaged in R&D activities. Ten companies, 9 R&D managers, and one managing director of different industrial companies were selected.

We identified four cases of how R&D subsidiaries incorporate their requirements into global strategies in the context of changes. Four methods of integrating R&D subsidiaries’ strategies with the parent company are explained. Further, we show that global strategy formulation should not be restricted to headquarters, as dilemmas occur within competing departments in the subsidiaries, which negatively impact innovation and performance. Digital transformation suggests the potential of a new subsidiary management model—the “silent headquarters”.

We failed to discuss how headquarters’ R&D is implemented in strategy formulation. This is because the interview survey was conducted from the perspective of how subsidiary R&D is involved in integrated strategy formulation. Additionally, we did not investigate the actual performance achieved by integrated and non-integrated R&D organisations. Problems faced by subsidiaries in other locations, other departments within the subsidiary country, and the solutions to these problems, should be addressed in future research.

The practical implications of our findings relate to subsidiary-country relationships, inter-facility competition, and global strategy formulation. Active involvement of subsidiary R&D in strategy formulation, considering local requirements, can enhance subsidiary location advantages. Integrated strategies focused on global customers may overlook subsidiary R&D strengths and hinder innovation due to internal dilemmas and competition. Strengthening subsidiary R&D involvement and considering local context can promote innovation and flexibility beyond meta-national management. The concept of Silent HQ is suggested, reducing duplication and coordination issues through delegation and digital transformation.

The implication was from the findings pertain to global strategy formulation after organisational integration, which was not previously elucidated by the transnational management and meta-national management models. It was clarified the existence of four cases for subsidiary R&D involvement in strategy formulation from the perspective of subsidiary R&D activities, addressing the difficulty of explaining the penetration of single strategy management to subsidiaries through integration alone. We revealed that there are the entire, apparent, moderate, and quiescent integration cases of R&D strategies from the perspectives of global integration strategy and the subsidiary country’s adaptation and that considering subsidiary R&D involvement models in global strategy formulation is important for maximising the performance of R&D subsidiaries in MNCs.

This study provides useful insight into the importance of centralisation to enhance performance. It addresses the research gap in the global strategy formulation process by R&D subsidiaries. R&D leaders at subsidiary levels strike a balance between global considerations and the host country. This concerns the need for initiative and value proposition to their local customers, combined with the operation of a transnational model. The findings clarify how high-performing subsidiary R&D leaders can engage in parent company strategy formulation.