Liang (Arthur) Li, Paul W. Beamish, Andreas P. J. Schotter
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Subsidiary general manager (GM) succession selection is a critical process in multinational enterprises (MNEs). Previous research, grounded in organizational learning and routines, has suggested that GM succession dynamics typically follow either an acceleration or a deceleration momentum. However, as we investigated succession decision-making heuristics through interviews with MNE managers, we observed neither acceleration nor deceleration. Instead, we found some consistent succession dynamics. Within this consistency, we found variations in decision-making models among subsidiaries—some adopting a rule-based approach with a short succession dynamic, some adopting a goal-based approach with a moderate succession dynamic, and others adopting a people-based approach with a long succession dynamic. Underlying these models were bounded rationality, bounded reliability, and their unexpected interactions. Our study sheds light on the critical role of managers in subsidiary management, enriches international business theorizing on the subsidiary GM succession process, and refines the boundary conditions of organizational learning. The central message is that looking solely at GM succession dynamics through an organizational learning lens may risk overlooking relevant causal mechanisms. To make the theorizing on the dynamics of subsidiary management more fertile, the behavioral model should account for the idiosyncrasies of decision-making as well as the heuristics of decision-makers.
期刊介绍:
The Selection Committee for the JIBS Decade Award is pleased to announce that the 2023 award will be presented to Anthony Goerzen, Christian Geisler Asmussen, and Bo Bernhard Nielsen for their article titled "Global cities and multinational enterprise location strategy," published in JIBS in 2013 (volume 44, issue 5, pages 427-450).
The prestigious JIBS Decade Award, sponsored by Palgrave Macmillan, recognizes the most influential paper published in the Journal of International Business Studies from a decade earlier. The award will be presented at the annual AIB conference.
To be eligible for the JIBS Decade Award, an article must be one of the top five most cited papers published in JIBS for the respective year. The Selection Committee for this year included Kaz Asakawa, Jeremy Clegg, Catherine Welch, and Rosalie L. Tung, serving as the Committee Chair and JIBS Editor-in-Chief, all from distinguished universities around the world.