Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Figures -- Tables -- Contributors -- Foreword -- The MNC as a political organization -- References -- Part I: Introduction -- 1 Politics and power in the multinational corporation: an introduction -- Power and politics in the MNC: mainstream rationalistic IB and sociological institutionalist approaches -- The eclectic paradigm: apolitical economic view with unexamined political implications -- The evolutionary model of the MNC: rationalistic and normative view on power and politics in the MNC -- Research on subsidiary entrepreneurship: explicit focus on power and politics in the MNC but still largely drawing rationalis -- Institutionalist studies of the MNC -- North American neo-institutionalism: contextualized but tortuous views of power and politics in the MNC -- European comparative institutionalist studies: explicit but static view of power and politics in the MNC -- Studying power and politics in the MNC: the role of institutions, interests and identities -- Power and politics in MNCs: towards a more bottom-up and more actor-centered perspective -- The MNC as a challenge for mainstream neo-institutionalist theory: a call to study social agency -- The MNC as a challenge for comparative institutionalism: the MNC as a socio-politically contested terrain -- The role of institutions, interests and identities in studying power and politics in the MNC: conceptual ideas and empirical evidence in the contributing chapters -- Concluding remarks -- Acknowledgement -- References -- Part II: Institutions, social embeddedness and knowledge -- 2 Resource dependence and construction, and macro- and micro-politics in transnational enterprises and alliances: the case of jet engine manufacturers in Germany -- Introductory overview -- Conceptual foundations and challenges.

The fascinatingly atypical world of aero engines -- (a) Functional -- (b) Class of product -- (c) (Sub)systemic focus -- The historical origin -- The development of the post-war situation -- Localization decisions -- Interpretation and conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 3 Bargained globalization: employment relations providing robust "tool kits" for socio-political strategizing in MNCs in Germany -- Introduction -- Strategizing opportunities: the importance of societal institutions, particularly employment relations, in Germany -- Strategizing opportunities: the importance of robust strategic "tool kits" of local German plant actors to bargain globalizatio -- Strategizing constraints: the disintegration of the German model of employment relations? -- Discussion -- Conclusion -- References -- 4 Bridging roles, social skill and embedded knowing in multinational organizations -- Introduction -- Theoretical background -- Collective knowledge and epistemology of practice -- Outcomes of transfer attempts -- Political resistance -- Cognitive hurdles -- Social capital -- Bridging roles -- The cases -- Scanfood -- History and culture -- Strategy and vision -- Interviews -- ElecCo -- Outcomes to date of transfer attempts -- Bridging roles, interests and career trajectories -- Beyond social capital: the role of social skill -- Conclusions -- References -- Part III: Headquarters-subsidiary relations -- 5 Conflict in headquarters-subsidiary relations: a critical literature review and new directions -- Introduction -- Paper selection and methodology -- Conflict perspectives on headquarters-subsidiary relationships: a critical review -- Contingency theory -- Agency theory -- Game theory -- Institutionalism and micro-politics -- Postcolonialist perspective -- Social identity and role theory -- Conclusion and new directions -- Discussion.

Linking power and conflict -- Taking actors seriously in the structural perspective: a bottom-up situation-positioning approach -- Taking a processes perspective seriously -- References -- 6 Intra-organizational turbulences in multinational corporations -- Introduction -- HQ initiative rejection -- Defining conflict -- Managing the integration versus local responsiveness quandary -- The resource dependency perspective -- Methodology -- Exploratory study (phase 1) -- Comparative case study (phase 2) -- Literal and theoretical replication (phase 3) -- Data analyses -- Engaging in conflict -- Threat to global competitiveness -- Goal incompatibility -- Perception gaps -- Threat to decision-making authority -- Communication problems -- Negative effects on HQ control and coordination ability -- Conflict types -- Task conflict -- Relational conflict -- Process conflict -- Conflict tactics -- Ignoring -- Shifting emphasis -- Ceremonial adoption -- Obstructing -- Attacking -- Conclusion, contributions and future research -- Acknowledgement -- References -- Appendix 1: Summary of main research sites (Phase 3) -- 7 Conflicts in headquarters-subsidiary relationships: headquarters-driven charter losses in foreign subsidiaries -- Introduction -- Charter reallocation and subsidiary evolution in MNCs -- Headquarters-subsidiary relationships -- Conflicts in headquarters-subsidiary relationships -- Headquarters' repertoire for action -- Subsidiaries' repertoire for action -- Research questions, theoretical and methodological issues -- Case study: three headquarters-driven charter losses in Siemens Telefongyár, Hungary -- Strategic background and history -- Three episodes of headquarters-driven charter losses, 1989-2004 -- The impact of charter losses on headquarters-subsidiary relationships -- Discussion and conclusions -- Appendix - Interview partners -- References.

8 Headquarters-subsidiary relationships from a social psychological perspective: how perception gaps concerning the subsidiary's role may lead to conflict -- Introduction -- Subsidiary roles in the international business literature -- Theoretical development -- Network MNCs as open systems -- Katz and Kahn's role theoretical approach -- Subsidiary roles from Katz and Kahn's theoretical perspective -- Implications of perception gaps -- Conflict as a general consequence of perception gaps -- Conflict in the case of perception gaps concerning subsidiary capabilities -- Conclusions -- References -- Part IV: Role of national identities and identity work -- 9 Subsidiary manager socio-political interaction: the impact of host country culture -- Introduction -- Organizational politics in the MNC -- Knowledge sharing -- Proactive behaviors -- Normative integration -- National culture and subsidiary socio-political interaction -- Methods and findings -- Data collection -- Findings -- Discussion -- Concluding remarks -- References -- 10 Unequal power relations, identity discourse, and cultural distinction drawing in MNCs -- Introduction -- Power and identity in cross-cultural encounters -- Research design and methods -- Phase 1 -- Phase 2 -- Data analysis -- Work ethos -- Japanese firms in the Netherlands -- Dutch firms in Japan -- Analysis -- Communication -- Japanese firms in the Netherlands -- Dutch firms in Japan -- Analysis -- The superior-subordinate relationship -- Japanese firms in the Netherlands -- Dutch firms in Japan -- Analysis -- Decision-making -- Japanese firms in the Netherlands -- Dutch firms in Japan -- Analysis -- Cultivating differences and power inequalities -- Limitations and implications -- References -- 11 National identities in times of organizational globalization: a case study of Russian managers in two Finnish-Russian organizations.

Introduction -- On national identity, organizational power and the discourse of nationalism -- National identity in Russian organizations -- Research context: the Russian-Finnish relations -- Research design and methodology -- The construction of national identity in Finnish-Russian organizations: "who are we?" and "where do we come from?" -- The struggle for global status: "we are more global" -- The struggle for distinct status: national identity is a valuable and distinctive resource -- Summary -- Discussion and conclusions -- References -- 12 Contesting social space in the Balkan region: the social dimensions of a "red" joint venture -- Introduction -- Context -- Identity and habitus in an uncertain world -- Research process -- The internationalization of brewing -- The joint venture -- The parent: Eden -- The subsidiary: Weisser -- The process of merging -- Contesting social space from grounded perspectives -- The parent: cost and cultural consonance -- Local management: managing in a zone of uncertainty -- Employee interests: the expression of dissonance -- Discussion and conclusion -- Acknowledgement -- References -- Part V: Conclusions -- 13 Reflections on the macro-politics of micro-politics -- Introduction -- The multinational as a distinctive organizational form and its relationship to comparative institutional analysis -- The multinational as transnational social space: structures and processes -- The MNC as a unified legal and financial entity -- Global management in the transnational social space -- Conclusions -- References -- Index.

We typically see multinationals as monolithic organisations but, like any institution in society, they are not. They are geographically, socially, culturally and institutionally diverse. This 2011 book examines this complexity, focusing on issues of politics and power, an underdeveloped area of study in mainstream analyses of multinational corporations.

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