Evolving headquarters‐subsidiary dynamics in international R&D: the case of Japanese multinationals

Author: Asakawa, Kazuhiro

Source: R&D Management, Volume 31, Number 1, January 2001 , pp. 1-14(14)

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $48.00 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

The paper identifies the evolving nature of headquarters‐subsidiary relations during the whole process of R&D internationalization. In‐depth data on five Japanese multinationals revealed that the role of overseas laboratories actually evolved over time, from the `starter' to the `innovator' and then to the `contributor'. Such a shift in role of overseas laboratories affected the nature of headquarters‐subsidiary relationship accordingly. `Semi‐connected freedom' was identified as an optimal condition for the overseas laboratories to reconcile the two competing pressures: need for local autonomy and need for internal information connectivity. Various managerial steps were suggested for the laboratories to reach that state: increase in process linkage, active broker's role, short‐term socialization, and project‐level socialization. Some practical and theoretical implications were drawn from this research, and future research direction was suggested.

Document Type: Original article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9310.00192

Affiliations: 1: Graduate School of Business Administration, Keio University, Yokohama 223-8523, Japan

Publication date: 2001-01-01