Books by Pamela Sharkey Scott
Increased global competition originating from both within the multinational corporation (MNC) and... more Increased global competition originating from both within the multinational corporation (MNC) and from global adversaries dictates that subsidiaries must be responsive to change, adaptable, and capable of sensing and seizing new opportunities for capability development and growth. For many subsidiaries adhering to, or being seen to adhere to, the wider organizational goals dictated by their parent represents an additional complexity. While it may be necessary to divert slack resources towards capability development, subsidiaries which do so, on their own initiative, may well run the risk of being categorized as an unruly node in the MNC's network. Further, by failing to show compliance with organizational strategy future subsidiary-driven efforts may be curbed or prohibited. The need to demonstrate value to the MNC through developing new and novel capabilities while complying with parent-driven strategy thus represents a key subsidiary dilemma, yet remains an underexplored phenomenon in international business research. Framing this dilemma via an ambidexterity lens, our chapter explores how five subsidiary units balance and negotiate allegiances within a modern MNC context. We find that in the subsidiary context aligning and adapting may not be competing or exclusive strategies, but in effect two sides of the same coin. The structural context can shape relative levels of alignment via controlling mechanisms and monitoring of operations while the subsidiary's behavioral context, idiosyncratic to the subsidiary, can dictate its capacity to generate initiatives and to create new and novel capabilities for diffusion across the MNC network.
Papers by Pamela Sharkey Scott
Drawing on the organizational memory and strategy for managing knowledge literatures to develop a... more Drawing on the organizational memory and strategy for managing knowledge literatures to develop a theoretical framework, we empirically examined the organizational memory contexts -interpersonal and repository logic -that set the broader conditions for middle managers' knowledge searching. Contrary to most studies which examine knowledge storage processes, with the help of multiple case studies, we examined middle managers' actual activities. Our findings reveal that in the interpersonal logic middle managers more actively engage in knowledge circulation and knowledge co-creation processes. In the repository logic instead, middle managers' potential seemed to become confined because of cognitive inertia, leading to a tendency to search for ready-made solutions, and to use own experience in a siloed problem-solving effort that may have limited suitability to dealing with novel challenges.
Journal of International Business Studies
It is widely acknowledged in international business (IB) that the task of subsidiaries in multina... more It is widely acknowledged in international business (IB) that the task of subsidiaries in multinational corporation (MNC) learning is to adapt, create and diffuse new knowledge. Departing from the common focus on the subsidiary’s assigned mandate, this study takes a problemistic search perspective to explore subsidiary managers’ actions in detail. A qualitative study was conducted into 38 solution finding processes employed in four subsidiaries. The paper’s main contribution is a framework of subsidiary managers’ roles in MNC learning, depicting how the framing of the problem influences knowledge search and solution finding activities, and how different activities result in learning at local and global levels. Further implications for MNC knowledge and organizational learning, the management of interdependencies and integration, and for economic geography literatures are discussed.
Firm-Level Internationalization, Regionalism and Globalization, 2011
A lot of research on MNC knowledge flows has concentrated on the organizational conditions that p... more A lot of research on MNC knowledge flows has concentrated on the organizational conditions that promote learning outcomes through a more efficient reuse of existing knowledge (cf. Gupta and Govindarajan 2000). Departing from this predominant research stream and recognising the increasingly important role of middle managers in large, distributed organizations, we investigated how subsidiary middle managers actually search for knowledge when dealing with non-routine problems and evaluated the solution outcomes in terms of generating organizational adaptation. By doing so, we contribute to several calls for more micro-level research of organizational learning processes and shed light on the black-box of knowledge inflows.
The ability of an organisation to adapt and evolve in accordance with external change is frequent... more The ability of an organisation to adapt and evolve in accordance with external change is frequently cited as a path to sustainability and longevity of operations. The manner in which change, transformation and adaption manifests itself within an organisation continues to prompt research across a wide and varying array of disciplines. Of particular interest in terms of organisational change is capability development as a vehicle for transformation. If real transformation is to occur the organisation must go beyond incremental change in extending and modifying the ways in which it operates . Capability development as a driver for organisational transformation therefore recognises the importance of the modification and adaption of a resource base in accordance with external change.
Accessing International Markets: how Professional Service Firms Internationalise
Subsidiary Managers' Search Practices: Unpacking the Emergent Knowledge Flow
Abstract A lot of research has investigated the organizational level determinants and patterns of... more Abstract A lot of research has investigated the organizational level determinants and patterns of knowledge flows within multinational corporations (MNCs), often describing the transfer as a deliberate knowledge flow–initiated by top management who strategically decide on the replication of knowledge. However, little empirical attention has been paid to an examination of the actions of individuals, most critically middle managers who are at the nexus of organizational knowledge exchanges. Adopting the problemistic search ...
Capability Evolution and a Replication Strategy: Stimulating Middle Management Knowledge Search Routines and Architecture Competences
ABSTRACT This qualitative study uncovers how organizations following a replication strategy, with... more ABSTRACT This qualitative study uncovers how organizations following a replication strategy, with its focus on efficiency and standardisation, can also achieve explorative knowledge search to propose relevant solutions to unusual problems. We undertook a detailed investigation of middle managers' knowledge search routines in Gamma, a leading ICT multinational corporation (MNC), to unravel how the organizational context influences their search actions and solution development. We find that by maintaining a flexible organizational structure and not storing knowledge in central repositories - thereby foregoing the value of such mechanisms in facilitating a more efficient search and leverage of existing solutions, knowledge search routines are executed that are intense and active, break out of silos and mobilize diverse knowledge components for the architecturing of solutions. These findings contribute towards our understanding of micro-foundations of capability evolution in the context of a replication strategy by uncovering the dual workings of organizational context elements in both enabling and challenging middle managers' knowledge search actions. It also extends our understanding of the role of middle managers in capability evolution by revealing the importance of architecture competences in developing solutions that renew routines and how these competences can be stimulated by an appropriate organizational context.
Firm-Level Internationalization, Regionalism and Globalization, 2011
The evolution of MNEs (Multinational Enterprises)
S-Nitrosylation of Surfactant Protein D (SP-D) modulates its oligomerization and inflammatory function in vitro and in experimental models of lung injury
The Faseb Journal, 2007
Journal of Business Strategy, 2013
Past, Present and Future of Humanitarian Supply Chain Management
Supply chain resilience for sustainable disaster management
The multinational subsidiary is a unique context to study management processes relating to strate... more The multinational subsidiary is a unique context to study management processes relating to strategy but so far, there has not been a coherent approach identifiable in the literature. It is recognised that subsidiaries evolve over time and through their own actions and initiatives have the potential to modify the power structures of the Multinational Enterprise (MNE) but little is known about the role of the subsidiary manager in this process. We suggest that the tensions between the headquarters perspective and the subsidiary perspective have resulted in the application of inappropriate frameworks to the study of subsidiary managers. This proposal presents an ongoing empirical study, which addresses previous issues, by testing an organising framework to study strategy development at the subsidiary level of the Multinational Enterprise (MNE).
Departing from traditional economic and behavioural approaches, this study adopts a resource base... more Departing from traditional economic and behavioural approaches, this study adopts a resource based lens to examine an area exhibiting exceptional growth, the internationalisation of professional service firms (PSFs). An in-depth qualitative study of the internationalisation process of five architectural firms expanding to multiple international markets was conducted. The paper's main contribution is the identification of the interplay between PSF competencies and the firm's approach to internationalisation. We reveal how these PSFs can be classified along a continuum ranging from artistic to engineering orientation depending on the firm's relative emphasis on technical or management competencies when internationalising. Implications for PSFs when developing an approach to internationalisation are discussed.
Follow this and additional works at: http://arrow.dit.ie/buschmanart This Article is brought to y... more Follow this and additional works at: http://arrow.dit.ie/buschmanart This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Management at ARROW@DIT. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles by an authorized administrator of ARROW@DIT. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License Recommended Citation Reilly, M., Scott, P., Mangematin, V. (2012, forthcoming), Competing into the Future: Responding to the Emerging Challenges of MNC Subsidiaries, Journal of Business Strategy Competing into the Future, Responding to the Emerging Challenges of MNC Subsidiaries Abstract
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Books by Pamela Sharkey Scott
Papers by Pamela Sharkey Scott