Beyond Simple Configurations: The Dual Involvement of Divisional and Corporate Headquarters in Subsidiary Innovation Activities in Multibusiness Firms
研究了多业务公司中公司总部和部门总部同时参与子公司创新项目的现象，发现项目合作伙伴数量而非子公司内部嵌入性是驱动因素，且内部嵌入性在合作伙伴较多时才有正向影响。
We investigate “dual headquarters involvement”, i.e., corporate and divisional headquarters’ simultaneous involvement in innovation development projects hosted by subsidiaries of multibusiness firms. Drawing on selective hierarchical involvement theory and the literature on subsidiary network embeddedness, we analyze 83 innovation projects in 22 multibusiness firms and find that the number of partners in the projects, rather than subsidiary intra- and inter-divisional embeddedness acts as a driver of dual headquarters involvement. We do however find that intra- and inter-divisional embeddedness is positively related to dual headquarters involvement when the number of partners in the innovation project is relatively large. These results lend support to the idea that parenting in complex organizations entail complex headquarters structures. Our results suggest that we need to go beyond simple conceptualizations of headquarters and that considering different dimensions of the innovating subsidiary’s network helps in explaining dual headquarters involvement.