Micro-political processes in a multinational corporation subsidiary: A postcolonial reading of restructuring in a sales department
通过观察和访谈一家全球公司在巴基斯坦子公司的销售部门重组，运用后殖民理论分析管理层如何创造融合现代零售与当地荣誉话语的叙事，塑造了子公司内部的微观政治斗争。
What shapes micro-political contest in the subsidiary of a multinational corporation? We use observational and interview data from a Pakistani subsidiary of a global company to address this question. We trace debate surrounding the entry of modern (self-service) retail through multiple voices. Following postcolonial theory, we show how top management create a narrative that combines the progressiveness of modern retail with the locally salient discourse of izzat/honour. This hybrid narrative defines the terrain and terms of micro-political contest for all others in the subsidiary. Our analysis shows how some workers adapt this hybrid story to support their interests, whilst the attachment of izzat to the modern restricts the possibility of resistance for others. We examine how the narrative enables the establishment of an elite and a dominated group. The postcolonial approach allows us to argue that the subsidiary is a specific site of micro-political struggle where both geo-political factors and relationships with other parts of the multinational corporation shape micro-political processes.