Introduction to Volume Theme

Within the broad stream of research on the interplay between strategy and structure and on conceptual models for managing multinational corporations (MNCs), the debate on how to configure the MNC so that it is resilient, ambidextrous, and adaptive continues to grow. In the center of this debate is the relationship between organizational units in the corporation. This not only includes the classic headquarters-subsidiary relationship but also relationships between sister subsidiaries, corporate and regional HQs, and physical and virtual units.

Since the introduction of such concepts as the Heterarchy (Hedlund, 1986), the Transnational (Bartlett & Ghoshal, 1989), and the Metanational (Doz, Santos, & Williamson, 2001), a large stream of subsidiary-level research has emerged in the international business literature. This has recently been complemented by a new focus on the role and value-added of MNC headquarters. For example, over the last few years three special issues on the topic have appeared, in Management International Review (Ambos & Mahnke, 2010), the Journal of International Management (Kotabe & Sokol, 2013), and most recently the Journal of Management Studies (2016), with also a special conference on the new role of headquarters (Strategic Management Society, 2015).