Managerial Coordination Challenges in the Alignment of Capabilities and New Subsidiary Charters in MNEs
研究跨国子公司中章程与能力如何协调，通过追踪一家全球IT公司的协调机制变化，解释管理协调如何影响能力变化和章程调整，并揭示协调机制可能导致子公司行动与总部指令脱节或能力僵化。
Subsidiary-level change requires the alignment of subsidiary charters and capabilities. Yet, the mechanisms through which the alignment of charters and capabilities unfolds are not yet well understood. In this paper, we investigate alignment from the perspective of managerial coordination. Drawing on a longitudinal study of a global IT firm, we identify three coordination mechanisms (charter-, experience-, and interaction-based coordination). By tracing the shifts in these coordination mechanisms over time and by specifying the implications of each mechanism for capability level change, we explain how managerial coordination influences alignment via subsidiary level capability change as well as alignment via the potential renegotiation of charters. This also allows us to provide new insights into situations of misalignment by explaining that particular mechanisms of coordination may become a source of decoupling between subsidiary actions and HQ mandates and may also result in capability level inertia. Moreover, while prior research has already acknowledged the role of interaction-based coordination for capability level change we show how and why such a mechanism of coordination emerges.