Innovation in MNC’S strategy and structure: the (re) emergence of host country headquarters in large emerging markets

Xufei Ma, Andrew Delios and Shu Yu ()
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Xufei Ma: City University of Hong Kong
Andrew Delios: National University of Singapore
Shu Yu: City University of Hong Kong

Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 2020, vol. 37, issue 3, No 1, 609-632

Abstract: Abstract Recent trends in the organization of multinational corporations (MNCs) in large emerging markets point to the (re)emergence of a host country headquarters (HCHQ) as a central structural element to the implementation of MNCs’ strategies in these countries. Yet, academic research on the strategy, structure and the organization of MNCs’ subsidiaries in a country has yet to account for this recent structural phenomenon. To help better understand this innovation in MNCs’ structural organization, we develop a new classification scheme, which focuses on the totality of an MNC’s subsidiaries within a single host country as a unit of analysis. As such, we emphasize an HCHQ perspective rather than a corporate headquarters (HQ) or a subsidiary perspective. We motivate this new classification scheme by leveraging the limitations of prior studies as well as considering the opportunities this new perspective offers for research on MNCs and for practice in international management.

Keywords: Host-country headquarters; Subsidiary; Multinational corporations; Emerging markets (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1007/s10490-019-09669-x

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