Perceptions of Mnc Management: Local Parent Sensemaking in International Joint Venture Process*

Zusammenfassung

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The article focuses on the way in which multinational corporations (MNCs) and local parent firms interact in the construction and operation of international joint ventures (IJVs). It seeks to contribute to the theory of IJV process in two ways. First, it constructs a preliminary integrative theoretical framework, which draws attention to the roles of initial venture conditions, of political, learning and relationship processes and parental perceptions of efficiency and equity. Second, it infers theoretical lessons from a case study of a German-Czech IJV. The empirical findings highlight the role of critical events that stimulate sensemaking processes, which in turn politicise the IJV and create different dynamic patterns.

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Auszug

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Perceptions of Mnc Management: Local Parent Sensemaking in International Joint Venture Process*

Introduction

Research on international joint ventures (IJVs) has expanded in pace with their rapid proliferation (Yan, 1998) as organisational forms and their significance for multinational corporations (MNCs) as internationalising strategies (Parkhe 1996; Si/Bruton 1999; Guillen 2003). One consistent theme has concerned the IJVs apparent predisposition towards instability, under-performance and dissolution, though this influential view of their 'intrinsic vulnerability' (Das/Teng 2000) has been challenged both theoretically (Yan 1998) and empirically (Gomes-Casseres 1987). This debate has directed attention towards the relationships between the IJVs 'transitional' (Porter 1990) structural characteristics, internal processes (Yan/Gray 1994) and outcomes, which, according to some researchers, vary with contextual conditions and characteristics (Lecraw 1984; Beamish 1985; Meyer 2001; Child 2002; Uhlenbruck et al. 2003). Tied to this argument is the observation that, under certain conditions, head office management may treat IJVs as merely a stage in the structural expansion of the MNC, en route to the establishment of a fully owned and controlled subsidiary (Gomes-Casseres 1987; Blodgett 1992; Child 2002). How MNC and local parents negotiate and operate IJVs over time is therefore very much concerned with the theory of MNC management.

In this context, this article aims to review, evaluate and refine the theory of IJV process and dynamics and this involves two tasks. The first task is to examine the main concepts and theories that have contributed to the current state of knowledge, which involves evaluating contributions from two distinct theoretical and methodological standpoints. The dominant 'structural' approach seeks causal explanation by using multivariate methods to test empirical models that relate structural conditions with performance outcomes. Later IJV research has compensated for a critical omission in the structural view (Parkhe 1993; Inkpen 2001) by adopting inductive qualitative methods to study the role of internal processes in mediating structures and outcomes (Ring/Van de Ven 1994; Doz 1996; Ariño/de la Torre 1998). Our work contributes primarily to this latter 'processual' stream, but also brings together structural and processual factors in explaining dynamic IJV patterns.

The second task is to draw on an intensive case study of an IJV between a German multinational c...

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