Channelling Corporate Values and Interests: Social Interaction within the Multinational

Abstract

Every firm is characterized by particular corporate values and interests, which are diffused throughout multiple organizational levels and aim at securing compliance of all parts of the organization. These corporate influences define the boundaries between the extent to which MNC embedding occurs via unilateral managerial decisions and the extent to which work practices are constructed with the involvement of local labour market actors. A MNC with highly centralized decisions is likely to treat local actors differently than a MNC with an interest in involving local actors into the construction of employment practices. Therefore, I find it essential to start the analysis of constructing employment practices with an insight into the corporate origins of subsidiary behaviour. I examine organizational influences from within the MNC on the construction of subsidiary employment practices. These include Electra’s corporate values and interests; and the process of intra-organizational social interaction between headquarters and subsidiaries (channel α) as well as between subsidiaries located in Western Europe and CEE (channel β).