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The Changing Geography of International Business pp 200–221Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Examining Strategy Diversity and Interdependence in the MNC’s Subsidiaries and Their Functional Activities

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Part of the book series: The Academy of International Business ((AIB))

Abstract

The increasing evolution of multinational corporations (MNCs) into differentiated networks of value-adding activities has presented enormous challenges to the analysis of strategic orientations at various organizational levels of the MNC. As MNCs have adopted less hierarchical and more interdependent strategies and structures, there is doubt about their strategic evolution over time towards a normative (optimal) transnational (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989), heterarchical (Hedlund, 1986) or multifocal form (Berggren, 1996; Prahalad and Doz, 1987; Zander, 2002). The continuing relevance of the (national) foreign subsidiary has also been questioned. Furthermore, there is confusion over what constitutes a MNC’s foreign subsidiary, especially since a separate functional value-adding activity may define the subsidiary itself (Birkinshaw and Pedersen, 2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business, Economics and Informatics, Birkbeck, University of London, UK

    Paz Estrella Tolentino (Lecturer in International Business), Odile E. M. Janne (Lecturer) & Pi-Chi Chen (Research Associate)

Authors
  1. Paz Estrella Tolentino
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  2. Odile E. M. Janne
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  3. Pi-Chi Chen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Liverpool Management School, UK

    Gary Cook (Senior Lecturer in Applied Economics and Head of Economics, Finance and Accounting) & Jennifer Johns (Senior Lecturer) (Senior Lecturer in Applied Economics and Head of Economics, Finance and Accounting) &  (Senior Lecturer)

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© 2013 Paz Estrella Tolentino, Odile E. M. Janne and Pi-Chi Chen

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Tolentino, P.E., Janne, O.E.M., Chen, PC. (2013). Examining Strategy Diversity and Interdependence in the MNC’s Subsidiaries and Their Functional Activities. In: Cook, G., Johns, J. (eds) The Changing Geography of International Business. The Academy of International Business. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137277503_12

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