Workshop on the Behavior, Role and Value Added of Headquarters in MNCs

Multi-business firms are frequently struggling with the fundamental question of how parent staff should organize and influence their businesses to create competitive advantage. On the one hand, it is now widely accepted that the activities of parents, such as synergy management and the organization of shared services, can create value and hence are important drivers of firm performance. On the other hand, it is suggested that parents frequently lack the knowledge and understanding of their sub-units’ activities and businesses for example due to information overload and limited attention spans. In the multinational network organization spanning different countries, cultures, and institutional contexts, such problems for the parent are aggravated. How do large multinationals handle this issue? And what are the effects of new ways of organizing parenting activities on the efficiency and effectiveness of the MNC?

Few studies have, so far, investigated the behavior, role and value adding of contemporary headquarters in a systematic way. The increasingly dynamic business environment amplify the uncertainty for headquarters in, for instance, organizational design problems, goal incongruence and information asymmetry. Recognizing the contemporary descriptions of the multinational corporation and its environment it becomes evident that headquarters and its managerial task have increased in complexity.

We therefore invite scholars to share their research in this area and contribute to an interesting research field by submitting their papers to this workshop. We intend to have a limited number of participants in order to facilitate interactive discussions and high-quality feedback.

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