Andrews Daniel S, Nell Phillip C, Schotter Andreas P J, Laamanen Tomi
Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Canada.
Institute for International Business, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria.
J Int Bus Stud. 2023;54(3):538-549. doi: 10.1057/s41267-022-00552-4. Epub 2022 Jul 29.
Managing multinational enterprise subsidiaries is a core facet of international business research. A shifting reality on the ground has triggered concerns around the waning relevance of the subsidiary because the MNE and its structure and processes have become increasingly complex. Consequently, more decentralized, responsive, and fluid organizational designs are now at the core of IB research. Juxtaposing recent arguments questioning subsidiary research altogether, we argue that IB scholars can explore and explain complex realities in the contemporary MNE without unnecessarily restricting the breadth of the field and giving up links to established research and theory. We reframe conversations around inward- and outward-looking perspectives, providing a path forward that emphasizes the importance of embracing the subsidiary concept in research reflecting today's complex business environment.
管理跨国企业子公司是国际商务研究的一个核心方面。实地情况的不断变化引发了人们对子公司相关性减弱的担忧，因为跨国公司及其结构和流程变得越来越复杂。因此，更分散、更具响应性和灵活性的组织设计现在已成为国际商务研究的核心。与最近完全质疑子公司研究的观点形成对比，我们认为，国际商务学者可以探索和解释当代跨国公司中的复杂现实，而不必不必要地限制该领域的广度，也不必放弃与既定研究和理论的联系。我们重新构建围绕内向和外向视角的对话，提供一条前进的道路，强调在反映当今复杂商业环境的研究中接受子公司概念的重要性。
