 Headquarters involvement and efficiency of innovation development and transfer in multinationals: A matter of sheer ignorance?Francesco Ciabuschi, Mats Forsgren and Oscar Martín Martín International Business Review, 2012, vol. 21, issue 2, 130-144 Abstract: We compare two theoretical perspectives on the knowledge situation of headquarters (HQ) in multinational corporations: the bounded rationality perspective and the sheer ignorance perspective. We claim that these perspectives lead to different expectations when it comes to HQ's role and the effects of HQ involvement in innovation processes at the subsidiary level. More specifically, we examine the impact of HQ involvement on the efficiency of 71 subsidiary innovation projects. The findings show that HQ involvement in innovation development and transfer has a negative rather than a positive impact on efficiency in both processes. We contribute by showing and suggesting that the sheer ignorance perspective might provide a more accurate portrayal of the HQ knowledge situation than the bounded rationality perspective does. This study furthers understanding of the role of HQ in the contemporary, knowledge-creating multinational. Keywords: Bounded rationality; Headquarters’ role; Innovation development; Innovation transfer; Sheer ignorance (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:iburev:v:21:y:2012:i:2:p:130-144 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2011.02.003 Access Statistics for this article International Business Review is currently edited by P. Ghauri More articles in International Business Review from Elsevier |
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