Randi Lunnan

MIR. Management International Review: journal of international business 64 p. 1-29 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-024-00539-3

Relationships between subsidiary managers and headquarters (HQ) have been investigated through various research methods in the international management field. The diary method is an experience-based research method that helps to tap into the actions, reactions, and emotions of managers working in the international domain. To our knowledge, no study has shed light on subsidiary-headquarters relations using insights from subsidiary managers’ diaries. We introduce the diary method to international management research and present an illustrative study on subsidiary-HQ relations, based on diaries written by fourteen subsidiary managers. We note that subsidiary managers display multiple types of emotions when dealing with their corporate HQ. We discuss how the diary method can enrich international management research, and in particular studies on multi-level subsidiary-HQ relations. Based on our illustrative study, we propose guidelines for using the diary method in the international management field by providing insights into the diary study preparation, the collection of diary data, and data analysis.

Encyclopedia of International Strategic Management p. 364-367

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Across the globe, concerns escalate about the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on global climate conditions, implications on global trade from pandemics, and the destruction of ecosystems from the exploitation of limited and non-replaceable global resources. Politicians and businesses alike agree that something must be done, the question is what, how, when, and by whom? What should firms do to reduce their carbon footprint while continuing to secure jobs and profits? When should firms make decisions to transform their businesses given the uncertainty of markets as well as the lack of clear guidance from global institutions? In this volume we ask: Are we actually walking the talk? This volume includes select contributions from the 2022 EIBA conference in Oslo, as well as a number of invited contributions. The book is a tribute to Professor Alain Verbeke who has contributed substantially to the theme of ‘walking the talk’ in the IB community. The chapters in this volume illustrate a broad spectre of research questions and ways to answer them within the IB community that provide evidence that many types of actors are taking – or can take - steps to actually “walk the talk”. The contributions also show, however, that MNEs face considerable challenges to make their ambitions real, which in turn presents a challenge for IB scholarship to develop relevant and robust analytical approaches to cover the transition problems that MNEs face.

International Business Review 32(6) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2023.102190

What are the implications of finance and knowledge flows for MNE strategy? In this perspective paper, we discuss the antecedents and implications of HQ-subsidiary financial and knowledge flows. These flows differ, as the deployment of knowledge hinges on numerous contextual characteristics, whereas financial flows are relatively fungible. The complexity and diversity of knowledge resources make their transfer sensitive to several subsidiary-level characteristics such as R&D mandates, location, and inter-unit interdependencies. In contrast, financial resource flows are relatively easier to measure and directly compare across domains. Hence, they are likely to be allocated primarily on risk considerations, notably the equity control over the subsidiary. Both flows are needed for subsidiaries to succeed. Based on the interrelations of knowledge and financial resources flows into the subsidiaries, four types of subsidiary roles are categorized: strategic growth, interrelated, diversified, and independent. We discuss implications on subsidiary competitiveness and MNE risk and point to future research avenues addressing the dynamic and interrelated flows of both these resources.

Social Science Research Network (SSRN) Doi: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4620947

Journal of International Business Studies 54(9) p. 1712-1722 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-023-00633-y

We identify and conceptualize the phenomenon of subsidiary-building acquisitions. International acquisitions provide a powerful means for multinational corporations (MNCs) to grow their existing subsidiaries. The integration of subsidiary-building acquisitions involves a triad of actors: the MNC, the existing subsidiary, and the target. However, extant research emphasizes international acquisitions as a cross-border phenomenon, focusing in a limited way on the foreign acquirer–local target dyad, thus ignoring the complexities of subsidiary-building acquisitions. Through a qualitative study of a Norwegian target acquired by a French MNC with an existing Norwegian subsidiary, we find that subsidiary-building acquisitions involve tensions between autonomy and integration in two distinct and interrelated integration processes: local integration and cross-border integration. We uncover how pressures for autonomy in one process counter-intuitively trigger pressures for integration in the other. These dynamics fuel headquarters–subsidiary relationships and subsidiary cohesion, the two components of social integration in subsidiary-building acquisitions. By unearthing the underexplored phenomenon of subsidiary-building acquisitions, we provide novel insights into the complexities of international acquisitions. We bridge the merger and acquisition (M&A) and MNC literatures, thus paving the way for research on international acquisitions to move beyond the acquirer–target dyad to understand their implications for MNCs.

Strategic Management Journal Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3389

How does an acquisition initiated by a firm's alliance partner affect the value that the firm can create and capture from its alliance with that partner? We conjecture that the similarity between the businesses of the firm and its partner's acquisition target restricts the firm's ability to create and capture value from its alliance, whereas the complementarity between their businesses enhances the firm's gain from its alliance. We further expect relational embeddedness between the firm and its partner to mitigate the competitive tension associated with similarity while reinforcing synergies ascribed to complementarity. Our analysis of 361 firms and their 590 alliances with 91 partners that acquired 164 targets during 2000–2016 supports our predictions about business similarity and complementarity but refutes those concerning relational embeddedness.

Journal of Management Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063221121788

n this paper, we bring to the fore the role of relationships in serial acquirers. Through an in-depth, qualitative, longitudinal study, we explore how engaging in sequential and overlapping processes of postacquisition integration impairs the integration capabilities of serial acquirers. We identify how the relational dynamics that follow each individual integration initiative impede the ability of acquiring firms to operate business as usual, as well as to integrate new targets. Our study offers deep insight into the complexities of serial acquisitions, by conceptualizing the nature and composition of integration capabilities, and the role of relationships in organizations undergoing frequent changes. Based on our findings, we assert that relationships deserve more attention in serial acquisitions; they serve as mechanisms that provide the social fabric of coordination and capability development.

Academy of Management Proceedings 2020(1) Doi: https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2020.8

Our study examines how a partner’s acquisition affects the value created and captured by the firm given the nature of its associations with the partner and with the partner’s acquisition target. We conjecture that business similarity between the firm and the acquisition target undermines value creation and capture, whereas business complementarity with that target creates value. We then contend that the relational embeddedness between the firm and its partner mitigates the negative effect of business similarity with the target while reinforcing the positive effect of their complementarity. Using an event study methodology, our analysis offers support to the opposing effects of business similarity and complementarity, but counters the predictions relating to the moderating effects of relational embeddedness. We conclude that if a partner acquires a target that competes with the firm, this indicates the breakdown of trust in their embedded relationship and creates a risk of knowledge spillover, which undermines the firm’s value creation and capture from the alliance. In addition, relation-specific routines can become rigid, which may prevent the firm from leveraging the complementary resources of the partner’s acquisition target.

Journal of World Business 55(5) p. 1-13 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2020.101125

This paper explores the implications of the collective identity of a regional cluster on firms’ internationalization. Prior research has established the value of cluster “insidership” through access to knowledge and resources. Through a longitudinal study, we find that cluster identity, through distinct identity claims, provides imperatives and shapes the motivation of firms to internationalize. These imperatives, we argue, stem from cluster identity seen as defined features of regional collectives, extending reference theory to encompass the role of social cues from similar firms located geographically close. The imperatives are particularly salient in the early stages of firms’ internationalization, adding the role of cluster identity to explain the differences between inexperienced and experienced firms in internationalization. Keywords: Cluster identity; Internationalization; Multinational enterprise; Longitudinal study.

Journal of Organization Design 8(1) p. 1-24 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41469-019-0052-y

This study examines how subsidiaries in multinational corporations (MNCs) experience interactions with corporate headquarters. We conceptualize such interactions in terms of organizing costs, focusing on two key types of costs: bargaining costs and information costs. Specifically, we examine how distance, coordination mechanisms, and atmosphere influence the level of organizing costs in the headquarter-subsidiary relationship. Using survey data collected among 104 subsidiary managers in two MNCs, we show that relationship atmosphere significantly reduces both types of organizing costs, whereas distance increases bargaining costs. We also find that centralization and formalization reduce information costs, whereas social integration, contrary to our hypothesis, increases bargaining costs.

Journal of World Business 54(5) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2019.101000

We investigate how a brand-owning MNE can orchestrate its international production network following a loss of formal authority and a shift in ‘hub firm’ status to another member of the network. Our empirical material is drawn from a case study of a Norwegian shipbuilder who, despite formal authority shifting to another network member, faces a continuing imperative to coordinate and safeguard exchanges to ensure that network-wide performance objectives are met. We illuminate what mechanisms are used by a network orchestrator with limited formal authority, when they are used, and by whom they are developed and deployed. Our findings question theorizations that assume a single, stable orchestrator, and that give primacy to the ‘executive suite’. We show network orchestration as contingent and underpinned by adaptations, interdependencies and tensions.

Fagbokforlaget

Global Strategy Journal 6(4) p. 269-288 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/gsj.1138

Plain language summary: We investigate whether listed state-owned enterprises (SOEs) benefit more from internationalization than listed private enterprises. We argue that SOEs have a greater scope for benefitting from internationalization due to their previous domestic focus and because of government-related firm-specific advantages they can utilize for their internationalization. In listed SOEs, these factors may matter more than non-economic objectives and corporate governance deficiencies that could reduce SOEs’ economic benefits from internationalization. Empirical analysis on a sample of listed Norwegian firms provides modest support for the hypotheses. There is no indication that state ownership reduces the benefits of internationalization. Technical summary: We consider state ownership as a moderator of the relationship between internationalization and performance in listed firms, developing theoretical arguments on the scope for benefits from internationalization, corporate governance, and government-related firm-specific advantages. We propose hypotheses on a positive moderation effect from state ownership overall and on more positive effects in majority state-owned enterprises (SOEs) than in minority SOEs, on more positive effects in SOEs previously part of the government administration, and on more positive effects from market-seeking internationalization than from efficiency or resource-seeking internationalization. Panel data analyses considering listed Norwegian firms (2000 to 2010) provide modest support for the hypotheses. Copyright © 2016 Strategic Management Society.

Perspectives on Headquarters – Subsidiary Relationships in the Contemporary MNC p. 165-189 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1064-485720160000017007

Research in Global Strategic Management 17 p. 165-189 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1064-485720160000017007

Progress in International Business Research 10 p. 407-435 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1745-886220150000010017

Purpose: With the disaggregation and fine-slicing of global value chains, offshoring and outsourcing has become increasingly relevant for many MNEs. The purpose of this chapter is to understand the value creation of the receiving partner of outsourcing activities. This is a firm that will have many outsourcing alliances with partners, and one perspective to frame these alliances is the alliance portfolio perspective. We ask – how can a firm on the receiving end of outsourcing create value through the management of its alliance portfolio? Methodology/approach: Through a case study of a company supplying products to manufacturing industries, we investigate ways in which the company adds value for customers through different models of customer integration. Applying an alliance portfolio perspective, we study benefits of grouping alliances with customers and suppliers. Findings: Whereas most studies of alliance portfolios have focused on value creation within a portfolio, we find that the mediating capability of coordinating between groups or portfolios of alliances is critical. We also see that the risk aspect is important for firms receiving outsourcing activities. Research limitations/implications: Our findings have implications for the strategy and organization of the mediating firm on the receiving end of outsourcing. We have only data from one firm, and therefore our findings need to be tested further. Practical implications: Our findings have implications for managers organizing large alliance portfolios to include risk and mediation capabilities. Originality/value: The chapter uses original in-depth data.

Asia Pacific Journal of Management 31(2) p. 397-422 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-013-9358-4

To improve control and coordination with operations in distant locations, multinational enterprises (MNEs) establish regional headquarters (RHQs). The number of RHQs in Shanghai registered with the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce has increased from 154 in 2006 to more than 400 in 2012. Managing knowledge constitutes one of the major strategic advantages of an MNE, but little is known about RHQs and their role in MNE knowledge flows. Based on interviews with regional, subsidiary, and global managers, we explore knowledge flows involving the RHQ. Our data suggest that RHQs can have a role in inflows and outflows of knowledge, and that this involvement is influenced by RHQ management, structure, and position within the subsidiary network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advances in International Management 27 p. 75-97 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1571-502720140000027002

Magma forskning og viten 16(6) p. 62-70

Internationalization of Emerging Economies and Firms p. 115-140? Doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230363663_6

Journal of International Management 18(3) p. 233-246 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2012.02.002

According to transaction cost and internalization theories of multinational enterprises, companies make foreign direct investments (FDI) when the combined costs of operations and governance are lower for FDI than for market or contract based options, such as exports and licensing. Yet, ex post governance costs remain a conjectural construct, which has evaded empirical scrutiny, and the lack of focus on the implications of these costs constitutes a challenge for management in multinational companies (MNCs). What effects does the ensuing establishment of subsidiaries abroad have in terms of governance costs? What factors drive these costs? We hypothesize that such costs are driven by external contingencies as well as factors that characterize a particular company headquarters-subsidiary relationship. Using survey data from Norwegian MNCs, this study investigates 159 MNC-subsidiary relationships. Overall, our framework is corroborated by the data.

Behavioral Perspectives on Strategic Alliances p. 109-134-109-134

Journal of Management Studies 48(2) p. 373-394 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00962.x

International Journal of Strategic Business Alliances 2(1/2) p. 41-68 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSBA.2011.038133

International Journal of Strategic Business Alliances 2(4) p. 271-286 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSBA.2011.044856

Advances in International Management 24 p. 127-152 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1571-5027(2011)0000024013

Journal of Management 37(3) p. 839-860 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206309354645

This study tells the story of two acquisitions made by a company the authors call Multifirm. Multifirm acquired two targets, Datagon and Teknico. The Datagon employees immediately identified with Multifirm, and the integration process was characterized by few conflicts and satisfied employees. The Teknico employees, on the other hand, failed to identify with Multifirm, and the integration process was fraught with disruptions and conflicts. Contrary to the conventional wisdom of identity threats, Multifirm reported that more value was created from the acquisition of Teknico than from Datagon. In this article, we try to understand why this was the case.

Baltic Journal of Management 4(2) p. 127-148 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/17465260910958773

M. Lie, R. Lund and G. H. Hansen (red), Making it in China

Strategic Management Journal 29(5) p. 545-556

The strategic alliance literature demonstrates that alliances create value for the partners, but also that many alliances fall short of expectations. This study addresses the complex issue of alliance performance. We follow one hundred contractual alliances over a five-year period, and study their performance in terms of: abrupt termination, short-term, and long-term performance. The results indicate that alliances that are considered strategically important are less likely to be abruptly terminated. We also find that newly established alliances have a higher termination rate than older alliances. Short-term performance is primarily affected by access to complementary and strategically important resources, whereas long-term performance is related to specific investments in human capital combined with the partners¿ ability to develop and expand alliance activities over time.

Journal of Management Studies 45(4) p. 691-713 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2008.00766.x

Academy of Management Perspectives 19(2) p. 77-80

The management practice we examine performance management (PM)-can be regarded as an extension of the traditional performance appraisal, linking individual performance to corporate strategy.1 Researchers separate calculative PM (focus on individual contributions and rewards) and collaborative PM (focus on creating a partnership culture between employer and employee, for example through competency development).2 In the United States, PM practices contain both calculative and collaborative elements, whereas in Scandinavia the calculative element is downplayed.3 Norwegian firms have had a long tradition of holding annual "planning and development talks." This is, however, a single, once a year event intended to promote good working relations more than a managerial system for evaluating, developing and compensating employees.' We suggest that when introducing a "foreign best practice" into this setting, national values present initial barriers, whereas organizational capabilities and systems are crucial for the final shape of the practice.

Human Resource Development International 8(3) p. 345-360

Ledmotiv : Idèskrift om ledarskap p. 29-39

Scandinavian Journal of Management 20(1/2) p. 53-74

Management Learning 35(3) p. 287-302

Journal of World Business 38(2)

Grunnbok i Strategi

Journal of European Industrial Training 26(6) p. 274-282

Magma forskning og viten

Academy of International Business Annual Meeting

Fagbokforlaget

EIBA Annual Conference

SMS Special Conference Banff

European International Business Academy Annual Conference

Academy of International Business Annual Conference

Telenor Academy

41st EIBA Annual Conference

Academy of International Business 2015 Annual Meeting

EGOS

Strategic Management Society Annual International Conference

Fagbokforlaget

EGOS colloquium Rotterdam

Strategic Management Society

Advances in International Management (AIM) Workshop “Orchestration of the Global Network Organization”

Annual Strategic Management Society Conference

12th Vaasa International Business Conference

European International Business Academy Annual Conference

Academy of Management Conference

Academy of Management Conference

SMS 32nd Annual International Conference

SMS Annual Conference

EIBA Annual Conference

AIB Annual Conference

Fagbokforlaget

EIBA konferansen

SMS Washington DC Conference

2009 Annual Strategic Management Society Conference

The second IB conference at Reading

EIBA 2008 conference

34th EIBA Annual Conference

Second Annual Workshop on Enactment and Development of Social Capital in International and Multinational Firms

Handelshøyskolen BI

Forskningsrapporten presenterer funnene fra en undersøkelse av utflytting av hovedkontorer for divisjoner og forretningsområder for selskaper som er børsnotert i Norge. Mens den tradisjonelle internasjonaliseringen – knyttet til salg og produksjon i utlandet – er godt beskrevet og velforklart i litteraturen gjennom et etter hvert betydelig antall teoretiske og empiriske studier av selskapers grenseoverskridende aktiviteter, finnes det få studier av selskapers utflytting av strategiske enheter og funksjoner, så som deres hovedkontorer. Vi utvikler en forskningsmodell der tilbøyeligheten til å flytte divisjonshovedkontorer blir forklart gjennom selskapsfaktorer, eierskapsfaktorer, og bransje­aktorer. Den empiriske delen av undersøkelsen bygger på to casestudier så vel som et paneldatasett over 30 av de største børsnoterte selskapene i Norge gjennom perioden 2000-2006. Hovedkonklusjonene i studien er at både i absolutt og relativ betydning blir hovedkontorfunksjoner for norske selskaper i utlandet betydelig viktigere i løpet av disse årene, og eierskaps­aktorene er samlet sett de som best predikerer hvorvidt utflytting skjer eller ikke. Statlig og konsentrert eierskap motvirker utflytting, men mot forventning finner vi at utenlandsk eierskap ikke fører til økt utflyttingstilbøyelighet.

EIBA conference

Strategic Management Society Annual MeetingAnnual Meeting

34th EIBA Annual Conference

24th EGOS Colloquium

Nordic Workshop in International Business

Second Annual Workshop on Enactment and Development of Social Capital in International Professional Service Firms (IPSFs) and MNCs

Engineering Economics 51(1) p. 22-28

Academy of Management Conference

14th Nordic Workshop on Interorganizational Research

20th EGOS colloquium: The Organization as a Set of Dynamic Relationships

EBHA Conference

Strategic Management Society 23rd Annual International Conference

10th International Conference on Multi-organizational Partnerships, Alliances and Networks (MOPAN)

The (inaugural) meeting of the IMP Group in Australia

The Umeå conference on Different perspectives on competition and cooperation

Samfunns- og næringslivsforskning (SNF)

Can we predict which alliances that will terminate, and which alliances that will be successful over time? This is the core research question raised in this paper. By reviewing transaction cost economics, the resource-based view of strategy, and the relational contracting perspective, we derive at important alliance characteristics that these perspectives suggest as important for understanding alliance success and failure. Our hypotheses were tested on one hundred strategic alliances from the Norwegian manufacturing sector covering a five-year period. The results show that strategic alliances based on access to strategic important resources were less likely to terminate abruptly. We also found that newly established alliances had a higher termination rate than older alliances, indicating that alliances go through different phases of termination risk. Short-term performance was primarily affected by factors such as getting access to complementary and strategic important resources, whereas long-term performance was be related to the partners’ ability to extend and develop the alliance.

The 18th Annual IMP Conference

17th IMP conference

Strategic Management Society: 20th Annual International Conference

Global Human Resource Management Conference

Handelshøyskolen BI

In this paper we explore potential factors explaining how organizational recipes are spread within Multinational Companies. Implementation of organizational recipes has become a widespread phenomenon, but most current research have focused on diffusion between companies and not within companies. We distinguish between formal adoption and putting a recipe to use, i.e. whether the concept leads to changes in work processes and management practice. We develop a number of propositions, where we aim to explain spreading by the following factors: i) Role of the corporate center as a change agent, ii) Recipient units’ previous experience with organizational concepts, and iii) National culture of recipient units.

Praktisk økonomi og ledelse 11(3) p. 131-140