Professor of Business Administration, esp. International Business, Sweden
In this treatise, we put forth that selection and retention of management practices in multinational enterprises (MNEs) are culturally biased, instead of reflecting a geocentric sourcing of the “best” management practices from the large variation of such practices within an MNE. Applying an evolutionary perspective, and drawing on findings from culture studies and longitudinal studies of MNE change processes, we develop empirically testable propositions. Building on concepts such as ethnocentric blind-spots, ethnocentric regression and perceived ethnocentric backlash, these propositions stand to undermine asserted benefits and usefulness of cultural variation in MNEs, as a picture of illusory geocentrism emerges. The notion of the unidirectionality of MNE evolution and the end-state-like character of the transnational solution are both compromised as an oscillation between management orientations takes their place. Although the outcomes of the processes we outline in our propositions are not uniquely defined by culture, culturally-biased preferences as to management practices among top management at headquarters and key decision makers in the subsidiaries act as a major and persistent constraining factor in MNE evolution . We outline boundary conditions for our theorizing and discuss contributions to theory as well as implications for future research and practice.
