Identity work in longstanding subsidiaries during crisis: reinforcing, preserving and reconstructing subsidiary identity

IF 4.9 2区管理学 Q1 MANAGEMENT

Journal of International Management Pub Date : 2025-05-23 DOI:10.1016/j.intman.2025.101259

Henry Lopez-Vega , Fredrik Tell , Edward Gillmore

{"title":"Identity work in longstanding subsidiaries during crisis: reinforcing, preserving and reconstructing subsidiary identity","authors":"Henry Lopez-Vega , Fredrik Tell , Edward Gillmore","doi":"10.1016/j.intman.2025.101259","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>During a national crisis, longstanding subsidiaries' roles are placed under considerable pressure. At the same time, the connotation of longstanding subsidiaries implies that they have existed for a significant period of time, during which they would have developed legacies and identities related to these roles. However, there is limited understanding on how longstanding subsidiaries work with their legacies and identities to influence their roles in the MNE or in the local environment. This study examines how longstanding subsidiaries of Swedish MNEs in Brazil engage in identity work during an economic crisis. Drawing on a comparative case study of 16 competence-exploring and competence-exploiting subsidiaries, the findings reveal three distinct foci of identity work: reinforcing, preserving, and reconstructing. The study contributes to the emerging literature on subsidiary identity work by demonstrating how identity work relates to subsidiary roles over time. It also contributes to subsidiary evolution research by revealing how longstanding subsidiaries manage legacy in response to environmental turbulence.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47937,"journal":{"name":"Journal of International Management","volume":"31 4","pages":"Article 101259"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of International Management","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1075425325000377","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MANAGEMENT","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

During a national crisis, longstanding subsidiaries' roles are placed under considerable pressure. At the same time, the connotation of longstanding subsidiaries implies that they have existed for a significant period of time, during which they would have developed legacies and identities related to these roles. However, there is limited understanding on how longstanding subsidiaries work with their legacies and identities to influence their roles in the MNE or in the local environment. This study examines how longstanding subsidiaries of Swedish MNEs in Brazil engage in identity work during an economic crisis. Drawing on a comparative case study of 16 competence-exploring and competence-exploiting subsidiaries, the findings reveal three distinct foci of identity work: reinforcing, preserving, and reconstructing. The study contributes to the emerging literature on subsidiary identity work by demonstrating how identity work relates to subsidiary roles over time. It also contributes to subsidiary evolution research by revealing how longstanding subsidiaries manage legacy in response to environmental turbulence.

查看原文本刊更多论文

长期子公司在危机中的身份认同工作：加强、保留和重建子公司身份

在一场全国性的危机中，长期存在的子公司的角色会受到相当大的压力。同时，长期子公司的内涵意味着它们已经存在了相当长的一段时间，在此期间，它们将发展出与这些角色相关的遗产和身份。然而，对于长期子公司如何利用其遗产和身份影响其在跨国公司或当地环境中的角色，人们的理解有限。本研究考察了瑞典跨国公司在巴西的长期子公司在经济危机期间如何从事身份工作。通过对16家能力探索和能力开发子公司的比较案例研究，研究结果揭示了认同工作的三个不同重点：加强、保留和重建。该研究通过展示身份工作如何随着时间的推移与辅助角色相关，为辅助身份工作的新兴文献做出了贡献。它还通过揭示长期子公司如何管理遗产以应对环境动荡，有助于子公司进化研究。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Journal of International Management MANAGEMENT-

自引率

9.80%

发文量

审稿时长

81 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of International Management is devoted to advancing an understanding of issues in the management of global enterprises, global management theory, and practice; and providing theoretical and managerial implications useful for the further development of research. It is designed to serve an audience of academic researchers and educators, as well as business professionals, by publishing both theoretical and empirical research relating to international management and strategy issues. JIM publishes theoretical and empirical research addressing international business strategy, comparative and cross-cultural management, risk management, organizational behavior, and human resource management, among others.