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Local Players in Global Games: The Strategic Constitution of a Multinational Corporation

Author

Listed:
  • Kristensen, Peer Hull

    (Professor of the Sociology of Business Firms and Work Organization, Copenhagen Business School)

  • Zeitlin, Jonathan

    (Professor of Sociology, Public Affairs, and History, and Director of the Center on World Affairs and the Global Economy)

Abstract

What happens when previously autonomous firms from different countries, each with their own identities, routines, and capabilities, come together inside a single multinational corporation? Can a cooperative strategy be established that advances the development of the multinational as a whole, or do mutual misunderstandings and the unintended consequences of strategic interaction among the players lead instead to endemic conflict and disintegration? This book tackles these novel and important questions through an empirical study of the strategic constitution of an 'actually existing' multinational. It does so by tracing the historical construction of the multinational corporation from the confluence of multiple formerly independent firms and analyzing the interacting web of strategies pursued by different actors within it. The analysis reveals how workers, unionists, subsidiary managers, and corporate executives pursue separate strategic games rooted in their local contexts, whose global outcome contrasts sharply with idealized views of the multinational as an integrated and coordinated organization. By comparing these findings to those of the broader literature, the book proceeds to a theoretical examination of the challenges of managing the multinational, and the difficulties of resolving them through conventional organizational means. The authors propose new procedural solutions aimed at fostering mutual recognition and knowledge exchange within the multinational corporation, and explore how a multinational public may be created to press for the necessary reforms in corporate governance. As the success of such reforms is far from preordained, the book concludes with a series of alternative scenarios that illustrate the many obstacles to a smooth continuation of the globalization process. This is an important and original study of significance for researchers, academics, and advanced students of international business, business strategy, economics, organizational studies, economic sociology, economic geography, and international political economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristensen, Peer Hull & Zeitlin, Jonathan, 2004. "Local Players in Global Games: The Strategic Constitution of a Multinational Corporation," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199275625.
  • Handle: RePEc:oxp:obooks:9780199275625
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    Cited by:

    1. Phil Almond & Maria C. Gonzalez & Jonathan Lavelle & Gregor Murray, 2017. "The local in the global: regions, employment systems and multinationals," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(2), pages 115-132, March.
    2. Scott-Kennel, Joanna & Saittakari, Iiris, 2020. "Sourcing or sharing in MNE networks? National headquarters and foreign subsidiaries as knowledge conduits in SMOPECs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1).
    3. Knut Koschatzky & Elisabeth Baier, 2012. "The Impact of Regional Institutional Characteristics on the Location of MNCs – a European Perspective," Chapters, in: Martin Heidenreich (ed.), Innovation and Institutional Embeddedness of Multinational Companies, chapter 9, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Segal-Horn, Susan & Dean, Alison, 2009. "Delivering 'effortless experience' across borders: Managing internal consistency in professional service firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 41-50, January.
    5. Krzywdzinski, Martin & Lechowski, Grzegorz & Mählmeyer, Valentina, 2019. "Lean Work and Gender Inequalities: Manufacturing Consent at a Multinational Car Plant in Provincial Russia," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(2), pages 123-141.

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