Abstract
Es ist auffällig, dass sich die sozialwissenschaftlich orientierte Organisationsforschung nur sehr wenig und theoretisch recht einseitig mit Multinationalen Unternehmen (MNU) als Organisationen beschäftigt. Organisationstheoretische Erklärungsmodelle, die das Verhalten in und von Organisationen jenseits technischer und ökonomischer Unternehmensumwelten erklären, sind daher eher rar und erst seit kurzem in einschlägigen Forschungsarbeiten zu finden. Ziel dieses Beitrages ist, die jüngere und vorwiegend englischsprachige Diskussion über den Einfluss von Institutionen und unterschiedlichen lokalen Rationalitäten auf Organisations- und Managementprozesse in MNU aufzuarbeiten. Im Folgenden werden die Grundlagen, wesentlichen Ansätze, Kernaussagen und Konsequenzen des europäischen und amerikanischen Institutionalismus dargestellt. Insbesondere wird der Beitrag die Bedeutung, aber auch Grenzen dieser beiden Ansätze für die Analyse von Veränderungsprozessen in Multinationalen Unternehmen skizzieren und evaluieren. Im Vergleich zum noch dominanten „evolutionären Paradigma“ in der internationalen Managementforschung wird hier das alternative Erklärungspotenzial von sozialwissenschaftlichen Institutionentheorien herausgestellt und anhand von vier verschiedenen Aspekten diskutiert: dem Einfluss des Heimatlandes, der Macht und der Autonomie von Tochtergesellschaften sowie der Entstehung transnationaler sozialer Räume.
Summary
This paper provides an overview over one of the most recent debates in international management by discussing key assumptions, major approaches, main contributions and implications of European and American institutionalist theories. In particular, the article discusses and evaluates the consequences of these approaches for the theory of the multinational firm. The potential of these approaches is explored by highlighting four areas of interest: the role of the evolutionary paradigm, the influence of the country of origin, power relations in and autonomy of subsidiaries and the emergence of a transnational social space. The argument focuses on how these institutionalist approaches may further our understanding of and theoretical insights into the multinational firm.
Résumé
Il est tout à fait surprenant que la recherche sur les organisations dans le domaine des sciences sociales ne s’intéresse que très peu et — en ce qui concerne l’application théorique — que de façon très partiale aux entreprises multinationales. C’est pourquoi, il existe peu de modèles explicatifs de la théorie organisationnelle qui vont au-delà des aspects techniques et économiques des environnements d’entreprise. Ce n’est que récemment que cette problématique a fait son apparition dans les projets de recherche. Le but de cet article est de faire le point sur la discussion actuelle et majoritairement anglophone au sujet de l’influence des institutions et des rationalités locales sur les procédures d’organisation et de management d’une multinationale. Nous présenterons ensuite les bases, les grandes lignes, les concepts clés et les conséquences des théories institutionnelles européennes et américaines. Cet article esquissera et évaluera en particulier l’importance mais aussi les limites de ces théories pour l’analyse des processus de changement dans les entreprises multinationales. En regard du „paradigme évolutionniste“ dominant la recherche internationale sur le management, nous chercherons à mettre en évidence le potentiel d’explication alternative des théories institutionnelles des sciences sociales, en se référant aux quatre aspects suivants: l’influence du pays d’origine, le pouvoir et l’autonomie des filiales ainsi que la création d’espaces sociaux transnationaux.
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Geppert, M., Matten, D. & Schmidt, P. Die Bedeutung institutionalistischer Ansätze für das Verständnis von Organisations- und Managementprozessen in multinationalen Unternehmen. Berl.J.Soziol. 14, 379–397 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03204587
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03204587