MNC structure, complexity, and performance: Insights from NK methodology

Journal of International Management

Volumn 21, Issue 3, 2015, Pages 182-199

  Celo, Sokol ^a   Nebus, James ^a   Kim Wang, I ^a  

^a SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Complexity; MNC performance; MNC structure; NK methodology

Indexed keywords

EID: 84942028212     PISSN: 10754253     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.intman.2015.06.002     Document Type: Article

References (83)

1. Ambos T.C., Birkinshaw J. Headquarters' attention and its effect on subsidiary performance. Manag. Int. Rev. 2010, 50(4):449-469.
2. Ambos B., Schlegelmilch B.B. The New Role of Regional Management 2010, Palgrave Macmillan.
3. Anderson P. Complexity theory and organization science. Organ. Sci. 1999, 10:216-232.
4. Bartlett C.A., Ghoshal S. Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution 1989, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
5. Berman S. Capitalizing on Complexity 2010, IBM Global Business Services, Somers, NY.
6. Birkinshaw J., Hood N., Jonsson S. Building firm-specific advantages in multinational corporations: the role of subsidiary initiative. Strateg. Manag. J. 1998, 19(3):221-242.
7. Bouquet C., Birkinshaw J. Weight versus voice: how foreign subsidiaries gain attention from corporate headquarters. Acad. Manag. J. 2008, 51(3):577-601.
8. Brock D., Birkinshaw J. Multinational strategy and structure: a review and research agenda. Manag. Int. Rev. 2004, 44(Special Issue (1)):5-14.
9. Brown S.L., Eisenhardt K.M. The art of continuous change: linking complexity theory and time-paced evolution in relentlessly shifting organizations. Adm. Sci. Q. 1997, 42(1):1-34.
10. Campbell D.T., Fiske D.W. Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrade-multimethod matrix. Psychol. Bull. 1959, 56:81-105.
11. Campbell D.T., Stanley J.C. Experimental and Quasi-experimental Designs for Research 1966, Rand McNally, Chicago.
12. Carley K.M. Computational approaches to sociological theorizing. Handbook of Sociological Theory 2001, 69-84. Kluwer Academic/Plenum, New York. J. Turner (Ed.).
13. Ceci F., Prencipe A. Does distance hinder coordination? Identifying and bridging boundaries of offshored work. J. Int. Manag. 2013, 19(4):324-332.
14. Chi T., Nystrom P.C., Kircher P. Knowledge-based resources as determinants of MNC structure: tests of an integrative model. J. Int. Manag. 2004, 10(2):219-238.
15. Ciabuschi F., Dellestrand A.P.H., Kappen A.P.P. Exploring the effects of vertical and lateral mechanisms in international knowledge transfer projects. Manag. Int. Rev. 2011, 51(2):129-155.
16. Cohen W.M., Levinthal D.A. Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation. Adm. Sci. Q. 1990, 128-152.
17. Cook T.D., Campbell D.T. Quasi-experimentation: Design and Analysis Issues for Field Settings 1979, Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
18. Davis S.M., Lawrence P.R. Matrix 1977, Addison Wesley, Reading, MA.
19. Davis J.P., Eisenhardt K.M., Bingham C.B. Developing theory through simulation methods. Acad. Manag. Rev. 2007, 32(2):480-499.
20. Dellestrand H., Kappen P. Headquarters allocation of resources to innovation transfer projects within the multinational enterprise. J. Int. Manag. 2011, 17(4):263-277.
21. Egelhoff W.G. Strategy and structure in multinational corporations: an information-processing approach. Adm. Sci. Q. 1982, 435-458.
22. Egelhoff W.G. Organizing the Multinational Enterprise: An Information-processing Perspective 1988, Ballinger Publishing Company, Cambridge, MA.
23. Egelhoff W.G. Organizational equilibrium and organizational change: two different perspectives of the multinational enterprise. J. Int. Manag. 1999, 5(1):15-33.
24. Eisenhardt K.M., Piezunka H. Complexity theory and corporate strategy. The SAGE Handbook of Complexity and Management 2011, 506-523.
25. Ethiraj E., Levinthal D. Bounded rationality and the search for organizational architecture: an evolutionary perspective on the design of organizations and their evolvability. Adm. Sci. Q. 2004, 49:404-437.
26. Forsgren M., Pedersen T. Subsidiary influence and corporate learning: centers of excellence in Danish foreign-owned firms. The Emergence and Impact of MNC Centers of Excellence 2000, 68-78. Macmillan, London. U. Holm, T. Pedersen (Eds.).
27. Franko L.G. The European Multinationals 1976, Harper and Row.
28. Frenken K. A fitness landscape approach to technological complexity, modularity, and vertical disintegration. Struct. Chang. Econ. Dyn. 2006, 17(3):288-305.
29. Galbraith J.R. Designing matrix organizations that actually work: how IBM. Procter & Gamble, and others Design for Success 2009, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
30. Ganco M., Agarwal R. Performance differentials between diversifying entrants and entrepreneurial start-ups: a complexity approach. Acad. Manag. Rev. 2009, 34(2):228-252.
31. Ganco M., Hoetker G. NK modeling methodology in the strategy literature: bounded search on a rugged landscape. Res. Methodol. Strateg. Manag. 2009, 5:237-268.
32. Gavetti G., Levinthal D. Looking forward and looking backward: cognitive and experiential search. Adm. Sci. Q. 2000, 45(1):113-137.
33. Ghemawat P. Regional strategies for global leadership. Harv. Bus. Rev. 2005, 83(12):98-108.
34. Ghemawat P., Levinthal D. Choice interactions and business strategy. Manag. Sci. 2008, 54(9):1638-1651.
35. Ghoshal S., Bartlett C.A. The multinational corporation as an interorganizational network. Acad. Manag. Rev. 1990, 15(4):603-626.
36. Ghoshal S., Nohria N. The Differentiated MNC: Organizing Multinational Corporation for Value Creation 1997.
37. Gill G. Reflections on researching the rugged fitness landscape. Inf. Sci. Int. J. Emerg. Trans. Discip. 2008, 11:165-196.
38. Gomes L., Ramaswamy K. An empirical examination of the form of the relationship between multinationality and performance. J. Int. Bus. Stud. 1999, 173-187.
39. Harrison J.R., Lin Z., Carroll G.R., Carley K.M. Simulation modeling in organizational and management research. Acad. Manag. Rev. 2007, 32(4):1229-1245.
40. Hedlund G. The hypermodern MNC-a heterarchy?. Hum. Resour. Manag. 1986, 25(1):9-35.
41. Hitt M.A., Hoskisson R.E., Kim H. International diversification: effects on innovation and firm performance in product-diversified firms. Acad. Manag. J. 1997, 40(4):767-798.
42. Jarvenpaa S.L., Ives B. The global network organization of the future: information management opportunities and challenges. J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 1994, 25-57.
43. Kauffman S.A. The Origin of Order: Self-organization and Selection in Evolution 1993, Oxford University Press.
44. Kauffman S.A., Johnsen S. Coevolution to the edge of chaos: coupled fitness landscapes, poised states, and coevolutionary avalanches. J. Theor. Biol. 1991, 149(4):467-505.
45. Lave C., March J.G. An Introduction to Models in the Social Sciences 1975, Harper & Row, New York.
46. Law A.M., Kelton D.W. Simulation Modeling and Analysis 1991, McGraw-Hill, New York. 2nd ed.
47. Lazer D., Friedman A. The network structure of exploration and exploitation. Adm. Sci. Q. 2007, 52(4):667-694.
48. Lee J.Y., Park Y.R., Ghauri P.N., Park B.I. Innovative knowledge transfer patterns of group-affiliated companies: the effects on the performance of foreign subsidiaries. J. Int. Manag. 2014, 20(2):107-123.
49. Levinthal D.A. Adaptation on rugged landscapes. Manag. Sci. 1997, 43(7):934-950.
50. Luo Y. Organizational dynamics and global integration: a perspective from subsidiary managers. J. Int. Manag. 2002, 8(2):189-215.
51. Mahnke V., Ambos B., Nell P.C., Hobdari B. How do regional headquarters influence corporate decisions in networked MNCs?. J. Int. Manag. 2012, 18(3):293-301.
52. Malnight T.W. The transition from decentralized to network-based MNC structures: an evolutionary perspective. J. Int. Bus. Stud. 1996, 43-65.
53. March J.G., Simon H.A. Organizations 1958, John Wiley & Sons, New York etc.
54. McKelvey B. Avoiding complexity catastrophe in coevolutionary pockets: strategies for rugged landscapes. Organ. Sci. 1999, 10(3):294-321.
55. Miles R.E., Snow C.C. Causes of failure in network organizations. Calif. Manag. Rev. 1992, 34(4):53-72.
56. Mudambi R. Location, control and innovation in knowledge-intensive industries. J. Econ. Geogr. 2008, 8(5):699-725.
57. Mudambi R., Navarra P. Is knowledge power? Knowledge flows, subsidiary power and rent-seeking within MNCs. J. Int. Bus. Stud. 2004, 35(5):385-406.
58. Perlmutter H.V. The tortuous evolution of the multinational corporation. Columbia J. World Bus. 1969, 9-18. (January/February).
59. Peters T.J., Waterman R.H. In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-run Companies 1982, Harper & Row, New York.
60. Prahalad C.K., Doz Y. The Multinational Mission: Balancing Local Demands and Global Vision 1987, Free Press.
61. Rivkin J.W. Imitation of complex strategies. Manag. Sci. 2000, 46(6):824-844.
62. Rivkin J.W. Reproducing knowledge: replication without imitation at moderate complexity. Organ. Sci. 2001, 12(3):274-293.
63. Rivkin J.W., Siggelkow N. Balancing search and stability: interdependencies among elements of organizational design. Manag. Sci. 2003, 49(3):290-311.
64. Rivkin J.W., Siggelkow N. Patterned interactions in complex systems: implications for exploration. Manag. Sci. 2007, 53(7):1068-1085.
65. Rugman A.M. The Regional Multinationals: MNEs and 'Global' Strategic Management 2005, Cambridge University Press.
66. Siemens (last viewed July 2014). http://www.siemens.com/about/en/worldwide.htm.
67. Simon H.A. Models of Man: Social and Rational 1957, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
68. Simon H. The architecture of complexity. Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 1962, 106(6):467-482.
69. Simon H.A. The Sciences of the Artificial 1969, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA & London.
70. Skyttner L. General Systems Theory: Problems, Perspective, Practice 2006, World Scientific Publishing Company, River Edge, NJ.
71. Solow D., Burnetas A., Roeder T., Greenspan N.S. Evolutionary consequences of selected locus-specific variations in epistasis and fitness contribution in Kauffman's NK model. J. Theor. Biol. 1999, 196(2):181-196.
72. Solow D., Burnetas A., Tsai M., Greenspan N.S. Understanding and attenuating the complexity catastrophe in Kauffman's NK model of genome evolution. Complexity 1999, 5(1):53-66.
73. Stopford J.M., Wells L.T. Managing the Multinational Enterprise: Organization of the Firm and Ownership of the Subsidiaries 1972, vol. 2. Basic Books, New York.
74. Tallman S., Li J. Effects of international diversity and product diversity on the performance of multinational firms. Acad. Manag. J. 1996, 39(1):179-196.
75. Venaik S., Midgley D.F., Devinney T.M. A new perspective on the integration-responsiveness pressures confronting multinational firms. Manag. Int. Rev. 2004, 44(Special Issue (1)):15-48.
76. Weick K.E. Educational organizations as loosely coupled systems. Adm. Sci. Q. 1976, 1-19.
77. Westney D.E., Zaheer S. The multinational enterprise as an organization. The Oxford Handbook of International Business 2001, A.M. Rugman, T.L. Brewer (Eds.).
78. Wiersema M.F., Bowen H.P. The relationship between international diversification and firm performance: why it remains a puzzle. Glob. Strateg. J. 2011, 1(1-2):152-170.
79. Wolf J., Egelhoff W.G. A reexamination and extension of international strategy-structure theory. Strateg. Manag. J. 2002, 23(2):181-189.
80. Wolf J., Egelhoff W.G. Limitations of the network organization in MNCs. Prog. Int. Bus. Res. 2010, 5:143-172.
81. Wolf J., Egelhoff W.G. Network or matrix? How information-processing theory can help MNCs answer this question. Collaborative Communities of Firms 2012, 35-57. Springer, New York.
82. Wright S. Evolution in Mendelian populations. Genetics 1931, 16:97-159.
83. Wright S. The role of mutation, inbreeding, cross-breeding and selection in evolution. Proceedings Xl International Cong ress of Genetics 1932, 1:356-366.