Headquarters’ Attention and Its Effect on Subsidiary Performance

Tina C. Ambos () and Julian Birkinshaw
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Tina C. Ambos: Johannes Kepler University
Julian Birkinshaw: London Business School

Management International Review, 2010, vol. 50, issue 4, No 4, 449-469

Abstract: Abstract Drawing on a sample of 283 subsidiaries in three countries, we investigate how headquarters’ attention affects subsidiary performance. Scholars have recently argued that top management’s attention is the most critical, scarce and sought-after resource in organizations (Haas and Hansen 2001; Bouquet and Birkinshaw 2008). However, the question how headquarters’ attention affects subsidiary companies remains largely unexplored. Our study shows that subsidiaries which have a high level of strategic choice and receive attention from headquarters perform better than their peers. More specifically, we find that the interactions of subsidiaries’ autonomy, inter-unit power and initiatives with attention increase subsidiary performance.

Keywords: Headquarters-subsidiary relationships; Attention; Strategic choice; Subsidiary performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (51)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11575-010-0041-4

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