Abstract
Research to date on centralization in MNCs has produced many inconsistent findings. The present study attempts to add clarity to the situation by re-testing many of the existing hypotheses with data from a recent study of centralization in 50 large US, UK and European MNCs. It examines how the degree of centralization inherent in the headquarters-foreign subsidiary relationship varies in response to a variety of company-wide and subsidiary level conditions. The influence of company-wide conditions on centralization appears to be much clearer than the influence of subsidiary-level conditions. The study also identifies several new contingency patterns that appear to be at work in MNCs today.
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*Stephen R. Gates is an Instructor in International Business Management at the College of Business Administration, New York University. He holds an MIA from Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies, and is completing a Ph.D. at New York University. His dissertation research investigates the link between corporate strategy and technological cooperation in the global semiconductor industry.
**William G. Egelhoff is an Assistant Professor of Management at the Graduate School of Business Administration, New York University. His current research deals with the implementation of strategy in multinational corporations, and he has written several articles on this subject.
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Gates, S., Egelhoff, W. Centralization in Headquarters–Subsidiary Relationships. J Int Bus Stud 17, 71–92 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490425
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490425