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Problem solving in MNCs: How local and global solutions are (and are not) created

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Abstract

It is widely acknowledged in the international business literature that subsidiaries can make a strategic contribution to multinational corporations (MNCs). Departing from the common focus on subsidiary role, contexts and organizational MNC factors, this study explores the micro-level details of managers’ actions and interactions. We conducted an in-depth qualitative study into 38 problem-solving processes employed across four subsidiaries. Taking a non-routine problem-solving perspective on how subsidiaries contribute strategically to renewing MNC competences, this paper uncovers four problem-solving approaches: local template adaptation; superior technology creation; local template creation; and global principle creation. The findings depict how the way problems are framed influences knowledge search and solution-finding activities, and how these different activities may result in local and global solutions. The paper extends insights into MNC innovation and subsidiary initiative by detailing how subsidiary managers navigate different problem-solving approaches, and contributes to discussions on the micro-foundations and social aspects of MNC knowledge flows, revealing factors that trigger distance-spanning knowledge search.

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Notes

  1. The terms “non-routine problem solving” and “problem solving” are used interchangeably for reasons of parsimony. This paper is concerned with problem solving as a response to non-routine events rather than other forms such as new product development or innovation management.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Area Editor Professor Paula Caligiuri and the three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions. We are also very grateful for comments on early ideas and drafts of this paper from Julia Balogun, Antonella Zucchella, Ulf Andersson, Charles Dhanaraj, Paul Donnelly, Peter McNamara, Alan Rugman, participants at the EGOS Early Career Workshop 2010, the Global Strategy paper development workshop at SMS 2010, and the strategic management research colloquium at Dublin Institute of Technology. Earlier versions of this paper received the Most Promising Dissertation Proposal Award at the Academy of Management Meeting, International Management Division (2010), and the Michael Z Brooke Prize for the Best Doctoral Paper at the Academy of International Business UK & Ireland Conference (2010), and it was a finalist for the Best Practice Implications Award at the Strategic Management Society Conference (2010). The usual caveats apply. We thank the participating organizations and Dublin Institute of Technology for their support of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Quinn School of Business, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Esther Tippmann

  2. College of Business, Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin, Ireland

    Pamela Sharkey Scott

  3. Grenoble Ecole de Management, Grenoble, France

    Vincent Mangematin

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  1. Esther Tippmann
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  2. Pamela Sharkey Scott
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  3. Vincent Mangematin
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Correspondence to Esther Tippmann.

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Accepted by Paula Caligiuri, Area Editor, 1 August 2012. This paper has been with the authors for three revisions.

APPENDIX

APPENDIX

Tables A1, A2, A3 and A4

Table A1 Knowledge search of local template adaptation approach
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Table A2 Knowledge search of local template creation approach
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Table A3 Knowledge search of superior technology creation approach
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Table A4 Knowledge search of global principle creation approach
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Tippmann, E., Scott, P. & Mangematin, V. Problem solving in MNCs: How local and global solutions are (and are not) created. J Int Bus Stud 43, 746–771 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2012.25

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