The competence creation of recently-formed subsidiaries in networked multinational corporations: Comparing subsidiaries in China and subsidiaries in industrialized countries

Feng Zhang, John A. Cantwell, Guohua Jiang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

We argue that a federative internal and loosely coupled external network of an multinational corporation (MNC) offer opportunities for recently-formed subsidiaries to become competence-creation nodes at an early stage of their development. By comparing technological knowledge inflow and outflow patterns of subsidiaries in China and counterparts in industrialized countries, we find that subsidiaries in China are not only involved in competence creation, but also contribute to building their MNC's competitive advantage. The results suggest that instead of being 'born dependent', recently-formed subsidiaries in networked MNCs can be 'born interdependent' as competence-creation nodes of MNCs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)5-41
Number of pages37
JournalAsian Business and Management
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2014

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Business and International Management
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Political Science and International Relations
  • Strategy and Management

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