Locational changes of headquarters of multinational corporations : a theoretical study on the motives and reasons for relocating Finnish divisional headquarters abroad
| dc.contributor | Aalto-yliopisto | fi |
| dc.contributor | Aalto University | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Euro, Kalevi | |
| dc.contributor.school | Kauppakorkeakoulu | fi |
| dc.contributor.school | School of Business | en |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Luostarinen, Reijo, professor | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2013-10-22T13:15:09Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2013-10-22T13:15:09Z | |
| dc.date.defence | 2001-12-18 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2001 | |
| dc.description.abstract | One of the recent features in the internationalization and growth process of Finnis h multinational companies (MNCs) and also of other Nordic MNCs has been the relocating o f many of their product division headquarters (DHQs) abroad . This relocation has taken plac e from the divisions' home country primarily to Western European `international centers' of high - level international interaction or the `economic hub' areas formed by them of high-leve l international interaction (Helle, 1989, 1990). The phenomenon of relocating headquarters abroad has been little analyzed and there are only a few studies with some preliminary aspects concerning the possible background causes of the phenomenon . This research work seeks to deepen the understanding of the background aspect s and problems of DHQ relocation abroad . It penetrates some of the operational and cognitiv e aspects in a holistic mode, essentially from a theoretical point of view . The theoretical aspects consist of cognitive psychology, and the aspect of management research which is represented b y strategic reference point theory and transaction cost theory, both of which rest on behavioral psychology. In the theoretical approach, these are used as avenues of deduction : 1 . explanations given in public by managers of the relocated DHQ and received through the researcher's ow n personal interviews, 2a . literature representing logistic and cognitive information processing an d behavioral aspects in the field of management research, 2b . literature on spatio-temporal and other cognitive research in experimental psychology, and 3 . the researcher's own rather long experience as a consultant in relocation studies of firms in various industries . This theoretical approach results in propositions consisting of an holistic cognitive-logisti c paradigm, a conceptual framework, with reference to the MNC division's growth developmen t abroad . According to the paradigm, this growth development characteristically contain s recurrent dynamic and reciprocal cognitive-logistic information processes of the DHQ, and consequently decisions based on these processes . In operationalizing the paradigm presented a set of detailed propositions is introduced in a consequential and justified system . These propositions concern the 1 . logistic information process, and the 2 . cognitive information process. In an evolutive sequence this latter process consists of the 2a. identity formation, 2b . social cognition, and 2c . spatio-temporal cognition of DHQ management and staff . As a concluding argument for the propositions, it is maintained that in a situation of identit y changed by strong foreign growth and of the consequently changed social and environmenta l cognition of DHQ managers and staff, a strong need for new social knowledge arises . This need for new knowledge in carrying it intentionally into effect as a logistic information process i s perceived phenomenologically and experientially as an event in space and time by the manager s and staff of the DHQ. This perception, in the situation of a peripherally located and peripheral perceived DHQ, leads subsequently, under the various logistic information processing problem s perennially encountered, to the relocation of the DHQ . The DHQ relocation is thus proposed to be a result of a continued reciprocal and dynami c action between the cognitive information process and the logistic information process in th e course of sustained international growth of Finnish MNCs, and the relocation is intended t o reduce DHQ management's boundednes of rationality. It is argued in this hermeneutic and deductive research that the proposed paradigm represent s the explaining variable and the relocation decision of and by a DHQ represents the explaine d variable . The theoretical implications of the work include a comparison of the proposed paradigm with the stages-model of internationalization of the firm, an evaluation of the research results in respect to `managerial logics' of transnational corporations and the international location o f various functions of MNCs . The managerial implications include important understanding o f the organizational `self' through the cognitive-logistic paradigm . Some very central and timel y topics for further paradigm-based research work are put forward . | en |
| dc.dissid | 15 | |
| dc.format.extent | 342 s. | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en |
| dc.identifier.bibid | 273331 | |
| dc.identifier.isbn | 951-791-646-9 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 1237-556X | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/11179 | |
| dc.identifier.urn | URN:ISBN:951-791-646-9 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.opn | Kogut, Bruce, professor, University of Pennsylvania, USA | |
| dc.opn | Nyman, Göte, professor, University of Helsinki, Finland | |
| dc.programme.major | Kansainvälinen liiketoiminta | fi |
| dc.programme.major | International Business | en |
| dc.publisher | Helsinki School of Economics | en |
| dc.publisher | Helsingin kauppakorkeakoulu | fi |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | Acta Universitatis oeconomicae Helsingiensis. A | fi |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | 194 | fi |
| dc.subject.helecon | Kansainväliset yhtiöt | |
| dc.subject.helecon | Sijainti | |
| dc.subject.helecon | Muutos | |
| dc.subject.helecon | International companies | |
| dc.subject.helecon | Location | |
| dc.subject.helecon | Change | |
| dc.title | Locational changes of headquarters of multinational corporations : a theoretical study on the motives and reasons for relocating Finnish divisional headquarters abroad | en |
| dc.type | G4 Monografiaväitöskirja | fi |
| dc.type.dcmitype | text | en |
| dc.type.ontasot | Väitöskirja (monografia) | fi |
| dc.type.ontasot | Doctoral dissertation (monograph) | en |
| local.aalto.digiauth | ask | |
| local.aalto.digifolder | Aalto_68328 |
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