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Management International Review
Published in: Management International Review 4/2010

01-08-2010 | Research Article

Headquarters’ Attention and Its Effect on Subsidiary Performance

Authors: Prof. Tina C. Ambos, Prof. Julian Birkinshaw

Published in: Management International Review | Issue 4/2010

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Abstract

  • Drawing on a sample of 283 subsidiaries in three countries, we investigate how headquarters’ attention affects subsidiary performance.
  • Scholars have recently argued that top management’s attention is the most critical, scarce and sought-after resource in organizations (Haas and Hansen 2001; Bouquet and Birkinshaw 2008). However, the question how headquarters’ attention affects subsidiary companies remains largely unexplored.
  • Our study shows that subsidiaries which have a high level of strategic choice and receive attention from headquarters perform better than their peers. More specifically, we find that the interactions of subsidiaries’ autonomy, inter-unit power and initiatives with attention increase subsidiary performance.
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Metadata
Title
Headquarters’ Attention and Its Effect on Subsidiary Performance
Authors
Prof. Tina C. Ambos
Prof. Julian Birkinshaw
Publication date
01-08-2010
Publisher
SP Gabler Verlag
Published in
Management International Review / Issue 4/2010
Print ISSN: 0938-8249
Electronic ISSN: 1861-8901
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-010-0041-4

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