Power struggles in the MNC – the contribution of a Bourdieusian perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to further the understanding of how the regulatory foci of the multinational enterprises (MNE) headquarters and the subsidiary lead to internal legitimacy crises. This paper discusses how pragmatic and moral legitimacy crises affect relational social capital. Design/methodology/approach The paper is conceptual. Findings This paper highlights the importance of internal legitimacy as well as the motivational orientations of headquarters and subsidiaries for the functioning of MNEs. Internal legitimacy management is crucial for building relational social capital. This study proposes that legitimacy crises are particularly likely to occur in cases of goal incongruence between headquarters and subsidiaries. This study postulates that organizations with a promotion-oriented institutional logic are concerned by the absence of pragmatic legitimacy processes. In contrast, given their aim of protecting the status quo, prevention-oriented institutional logic MNEs are concerned about the absence of moral legitimacy. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to explore the relationship between regulatory focus, internal legitimacy and relational social capital.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Internal legitimacy crises: the roles of the regulatory focus and relational social capital of headquarters and subsidiaries

Gammelgaard

Kumar²

2022

“…This bottom-up trajectory suggests that we study MNCs as “contested terrains” (Edwards and Bélanger, 2009) or as “societies” (Morgan and Kristensen, 2009) with not just one central power unit but diverse power centres each with a different set of influential actors and where subsidiaries perpetually bargain with HQs that have little ability or interest to exert full control. Although studies on power within the MNC primarily focus on the power of subsidiaries (Bouquet and Birkinshaw, 2008; Dörrenbächer and Gammelgaard, 2011; Rego and Steger, 2019), few studies focus on how the HQs manage their subsidiaries without formal authority (the right to decide).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Practice coordination by principles: a contemporary MNC approach to coordinating global practices

Kristiansen

Schweizer

2021

Purpose In the mainstream international business literature on multinational corporations (MNCs), an authoritative central headquarter (HQ) that transfers standardised practices to its subsidiaries remains the norm. This study aims to explore how MNCs coordinate their management practices through principles. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on empirical findings from a qualitative in-depth single case study based on evidence-rich qualitative data including observations from how a high-tech MNC headquartered in Sweden coordinates its development practices. Findings An alternative informal coordination approach (i.e. coordination by principles) is identified. Additionally, antecedents and implications of the approach are presented. Practical implications Coordination by Principles may facilitate the internalisation of practices and be a feasible compromise between context adaptation and traditional standardisation, particularly for MNCs with highly heterogeneous research and development operations. Originality/value This paper highlights the importance of acknowledging that firm practices often are based on management ideas that HQs adopt to prevent loss of legitimacy. As such, this study contributes to the scarce literature that critically questions the assumption that HQs solely transfer practices to subsidiaries to improve subsidiary efficiency and performance.

Transcending the DEI contradictions: a Bourdieusian path to social justice in international business

Vangeli

2024

Purpose This study aims to critically discuss and reorient the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) debate toward the idea of addressing and rectifying the pervasive structural inequalities that DEI, in its undiluted form rooted in social justice (SJ), aims to combat. Drawing on Bourdieu, the study first examines the diffusion and contestation of DEI into international business (IB). It then proposes a Bourdieu-inspired agenda to advance the transposition of SJ principles into IB. Design/methodology/approach The study interpretively reconstructs the process of DEI’s ideational diffusion. It examines how the interplay between ideas and field dynamics in IB shapes ideational processes and outcomes. Findings In response to rising global inequalities – to which multinational enterprises (MNEs) have significantly contributed – SJ movements have propelled DEI into the wider social and political arena, including corporate boardrooms. Within IB, a diluted version of DEI – IB-DEI – emerged as a paradigm to improve MNEs’ performance, but failed to address underlying structural inequalities. As the social impacts, utility and legitimacy of DEI have been challenged, the DEI debate has come to a flux. The study proposes conceptual and contextual extension of DEI within IB and advancing socially engaged research and practice that help reinforce DEI’s core SJ purpose – tackling structural inequalities. Originality/value The study is one of the few to openly tackle SJ-IB contradictions on DEI, while advancing the application of Bourdieu to critical studies of IB.