Relationships between subsidiary strategic roles and organizational configuration: The case of Taiwanese multinational companies

The primary goal of this study is to examine the relationships among Taiwan’s overseas subsidiaries based on their strategic roles, organizational configurations and business performance. However, their relationships also depend on the subsidiaries’ cultural differences between parent company and its subsidiary. Using regression analysis, we show that different types of industries, stages of internationalization, degrees of integration, degrees of localization, and degrees of resource dependence are the most important factors on the subsidiaries’ perceived activity satisfaction. The results indicate that the sample of Taiwanese MNC affiliates falls into three subgroups depending on their global strategies. Active Subsidiaries are highly integrated and have high local responsiveness, Autonomous Subsidiaries have high local responsiveness but low integration,while Respective Subsidiaries have low local responsiveness, but are highly integrated.