What happened to the transnational? The emergence of the neo-global corporation
Bartlett and Ghoshal’s transnational ‘solution’ for managing the MNC remains popular among scholars and practitioners alike. However, our in-depth qualitative study of Unilever, an exemplary case of a transnational, found that in the period 2000–2012 the company evolved into a very different organiz...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2020
|
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128390 |
| _version_ | 1811072721464852480 |
|---|---|
| author | Mees-Buss, Jacqueline Welch, Catherine Westney, D Eleanor |
| author2 | Sloan School of Management |
| author_facet | Sloan School of Management Mees-Buss, Jacqueline Welch, Catherine Westney, D Eleanor |
| author_sort | Mees-Buss, Jacqueline |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Bartlett and Ghoshal’s transnational ‘solution’ for managing the MNC remains popular among scholars and practitioners alike. However, our in-depth qualitative study of Unilever, an exemplary case of a transnational, found that in the period 2000–2012 the company evolved into a very different organizational form with a distinct set of characteristics. We call this the neo-global corporation. In explaining how and why this transformation occurred, we turn to organizational evolutionary theory, and use our case to generate a multi-cycle process model of MNC evolution. Given the dynamism of the MNC and its environments, we anticipate that the neo-global will also eventually transform, and call for more organization-level case studies of MNCs in future international business research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:10:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/128390 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:10:58Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1283902022-09-26T10:57:55Z What happened to the transnational? The emergence of the neo-global corporation Mees-Buss, Jacqueline Welch, Catherine Westney, D Eleanor Sloan School of Management Bartlett and Ghoshal’s transnational ‘solution’ for managing the MNC remains popular among scholars and practitioners alike. However, our in-depth qualitative study of Unilever, an exemplary case of a transnational, found that in the period 2000–2012 the company evolved into a very different organizational form with a distinct set of characteristics. We call this the neo-global corporation. In explaining how and why this transformation occurred, we turn to organizational evolutionary theory, and use our case to generate a multi-cycle process model of MNC evolution. Given the dynamism of the MNC and its environments, we anticipate that the neo-global will also eventually transform, and call for more organization-level case studies of MNCs in future international business research. 2020-11-06T20:16:25Z 2020-11-06T20:16:25Z 2019-07 2019-05 2020-09-24T21:51:35Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0047-2506 1478-6990 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128390 Mees-Buss, Jacqueline et al. "What happened to the transnational? The emergence of the neo-global corporation." Journal of International Business Studies 50, 9 (July 2019): 1513–1543 © 2019 Academy of International Business en http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41267-019-00253-5 Journal of International Business Studies Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. Academy of International Business application/pdf Springer Science and Business Media LLC Springer |
| spellingShingle | Mees-Buss, Jacqueline Welch, Catherine Westney, D Eleanor What happened to the transnational? The emergence of the neo-global corporation |
| title | What happened to the transnational? The emergence of the neo-global corporation |
| title_full | What happened to the transnational? The emergence of the neo-global corporation |
| title_fullStr | What happened to the transnational? The emergence of the neo-global corporation |
| title_full_unstemmed | What happened to the transnational? The emergence of the neo-global corporation |
| title_short | What happened to the transnational? The emergence of the neo-global corporation |
| title_sort | what happened to the transnational the emergence of the neo global corporation |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128390 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT meesbussjacqueline whathappenedtothetransnationaltheemergenceoftheneoglobalcorporation AT welchcatherine whathappenedtothetransnationaltheemergenceoftheneoglobalcorporation AT westneydeleanor whathappenedtothetransnationaltheemergenceoftheneoglobalcorporation |