Peter Thilenius

Headquarters’ Knowledge of Subsidiary Network Contexts in the Multinational Corporation

Competence development in the multinational corporation (MNC) is driven by competition in local industrial clusters, and the operating units engaged in those clusters are critical in the development of the MNC, as Porter, Solvell, and Zander (1990) posit. They assume that the operations of the single, unique subsidiary in relation to its unique industrial setting are critical in the development of the MNC. In this view, competence development is not created by organizational arrangements; rather, it is the outcome of a struggle in the market. But it does not take place in response to general market forces; it is driven by interaction with customers, suppliers, and competitors in the industrial cluster.

Opportunity development for ongoing business relationships

Seizing the opportunity often takes the key role in innovation, change and long-term success in business. The opportunity is, in that respect, something valuable occurring in the market which can be discovered and put to use by a company with the capability to do so. For a company, this means being active in the market and employing the entrepreneurial function to realize the opportunity and to change its operations accordingly. We argue that certain opportunity development can only be achieved through ongoing business relationships. Opportunity development means change in business relationships. Continuous change in ongoing business relationships is thus fundamental for opportunity development. But opportunity development is also contingent on input from the wider network of business relationships. Without change induced by the network connection, the ongoing business relationship risks stagnation and becoming routine, making opportunity development impossible. Against this background, the purpose of this chapter is to expand on the continuous opportunity development process in ongoing business relationships. More specifically, the aim is to explore the links between connection and change that provide the basis for opportunity development for the ongoing business relationship.

Extending the ERP system: considering the business relationship portfolio

Purpose – Research has shown that companies focus their internal processes when they adopt enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. However, the ERP systems need to expand their functionality to ...

Alleviating uncertainty through trust – A narrative approach to consumers’ foreign online purchasing behaviour

Alleviating uncertainty through trust – A narrative approach to consumers’ foreign online purchasing behaviour

Information technology utilization for industrial marketing activities: the IT–marketing gap

Purpose – This study aims to investigates the possible gap between the logic of these information technology (IT) systems and industrial firms’ marketing practices. Industrial firms rely extensively on IT systems for their business. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the contemporary marketing practice (CMP) model, which depicts firms’ marketing practice as ranging from transactional to more relational and networked-based, the logic of IT systems and how users in industrial firms adopt them are amended to create an extended model. The extended model is used to analyze an in-depth case based on 63 interviews regarding one industrial firm’s business with customers and suppliers and how IT is utilized in this setting. Findings – Results show that industrial firms’ relationship-oriented business is poorly supported by currently used IT systems. This gap between the IT systems, which are transaction-focused, and industrial firms’ marketing practice, which is relationship-based, has severe effects on adopti...

Conflict and control in MNC new product introduction

One of the advantages of the multinational corporation (MNC) is that it can exploit new product ideas globally in a rapid manner. This raises the issue of control of MNC new product introductions. It has been demonstrated that control over MNC subsidiaries differs depending on the strategic role assigned to the subsidiary. But, in addition to its role in the MNC, a subsidiary also has a role in a business network of relationships with important customers, suppliers, and other business partners. There is a latent conflict between these two roles. This article formulates and analyzes a structural model in which the dependencies associated with the two roles are related to conflict and control in subsidiary new product introduction. The model is supported empirically and demonstrates that control is a matter of handling the latent conflict between the two roles.

Internationalisation process in turbulent and stable markets: Do firms know that they do not know?

Internationalisation process in turbulent and stable markets: Do firms know that they do not know?

Internationalization of Swedish Banks in Russia and the Impact of Political Environment

In this chapter one of few studies made of banks’ internationalization process in emerging markets, focusing on behaviour relating to the political environment is presented. Aiming to understand banks’ behaviour in the Russia, an analytical framework built on the internationalization process model incorporating the impact of political environment is developed. The empirical data in the chapter concern Swedens four largest banks’ expansion into the Russian market and is presented in form of an longitudinal cross-case study with secondary data between years 1990 and 2010, collected retrospectively. The secondary data consist of newspaper articles, annual reports and press releases. Findings show that in stable periods, Swedish banks have followed the pattern of the internationalization process model when expanding into the Russian market. In periods of instability, the banks’ behaviour is heterogenic and can be opportunistic or cautious.

‘ Tic-Toc-Tic - Toc ’: Thoughts on the Tempo of Business Network Extension

‘Tic-Toc-Tic-Toc’… a long time has passed for the business network approach. The main aim of this chapter is to discuss the history of boundary extension in business networks, starting in the old times and ending in the new times. Many researchers believe in the existence of the ‘business network’ to some degree. This chapter takes the perception of the business network as a point of departure, working from the perspective that its boundary depends on the intention of the observer. This perspective allows us to present a developmental journey of how the business network approach, over time and in different tempos, has gained its identity, whilst both implicitly and explicitly extended its boundary.

Business Netquakes: Analysing Relatedness of Events in Dynamic Business Networks

One crucial, recurring challenge for business managers involves taking the right action when pressured to change from resource investment in a business relationship to the pausing or termination of such, which, in some situations may dissolve the relationship completely. In that ongoing quest, a substantial part of the information necessary for the managers’ choice of path of action stems from the past, current and potential future in the specific business relationship. However, to rely solely on the available information in the relationship is, in most situations, insufficient to select appropriate managerial action. The notion that business relationships are better understood as part of business networks is well established (see, e.g., Ford et al. 2002; Hakansson and Snehota 1995), consequently suggesting that further information, potentially vital for the choice of managerial action, can be sourced within the immediate surrounding business network.