中国东部沿海地区韩资企业经营自主权对绩效的影响研究

Abstract

Subsidiary autonomy on subsidiary performance has been an important theme in international business. It is broadly agreed in the literature that foreign subsidiaries should take the initiative and play more strategic leadership roles in winning their own local markets. However, a rapid increase in global interdependence within a group of subsidiaries still calls for certain parent commitment to coordinate and mobilize unique assets and capabilities within the multinational companies. In this vein, headquarters involvement in an overseas subsidiary’s actions and functions remain essential for maximizing the potential benefits of multinational integration. It is important to understand better how to appropriately align cross border coordination in the headquarters subsidiary relationship with the growing dual pressures of customization for the host market and strategic efficiency. There is a substantial body of empirical evidence on the relationship between subsidiary autonomy and performance, but these studies have assumed a simple, direct relationship. Also, there is still debate about the exact nature of the relationship between subsidiary autonomy and subsidiary performance. Based on the contingency theory, we use survey data from 118 Korean subsidiaries in Easter Coastal of China, investigate the moderating effects of internal coordination and environment dynamism on subsidiary performance benefits of subsidiary autonomy. Our results show that subsidiary autonomy is positively associated with subsidiary performance. In addition, subsidiary autonomy has greater impact on performance under conditions of internal coordination or environment dynamism is high. These findings suggest that it is very important to keep balance between subsidiary autonomy and internal coordination and environment dynamism so that the subsidiary achieves superior performance.