Abstract and Key Results
-
This paper applies Penrose’s (1959) insights on the quantity of managerial services required for firm-level organic expansion to the analysis of entrepreneurial activities in MNEs.
-
We use these insights to build a framework relevant to entrepreneurial activities in MNEs, and then apply this framework to assess the metanational model (Doz/Santos/Williamson 2001) in terms of the quantity of managerial services required to implement it.
-
Penrose’s (1959) insights on firm-level growth processes are still relevant to the analysis of entrepreneurial activities in MNEs.
-
The quantity of managerial services required for the effective functioning of the metanational model appears to be particularly high, and the benefits of this model should therefore be carefully weighed against the potential costs.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Athanassiou, N./ Nigh, D., Internationalization, Tacit Knowledge and the Top Management Teams of MNCs, Journal of International Business Studies, 31,3, 2000, pp. 471–487.
Bartlett, C. A., Multinational Structural Evolution: The Changing Decision Environment in International Divisions, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School 1979.
Birkinshaw, J., The Determinants and Consequences of Subsidiary Initiative in Multinational Corporations, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 24,1, 1999, pp. 9–36.
Birkinshaw, J., Entrepreneurship in Global Firms, London: Sage Publications 2000.
Birkinshaw, J./ Hood, N./ Jonsson, S., Building Firm-specific Advantages in Multinational Corporations: The Role of Subsidiary Initiative, Strategic Management Journal, 19,3, 1998, pp. 221–241.
Blanc, H./ Sierra, C., The Internationalisation of R&D by Multinationals: A Trade-off between External and Internal Proximity, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 23,2, 1999, pp. 187–206.
Burgelman, R. A., Strategy Making as a Social Learning Process: The Case of Internal Corporate Venturing, Interfaces, 18,3, 1988, pp. 74–85.
Cantwell, J./ Piscitello, L., The Emergence of Corporate International Networks for the Accumulation of Dispersed Technological Competences, Management International Review, 39, Special Issue 1, 1999, pp. 123–147.
Doz, Y./ Santos, J./ Williamson, P., From Global to Metanational: How Companies Win in the Knowledge Economy, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press 2001.
Dunning, J. H., The Contribution of Edith Penrose to International Business Scholarship, Management International Review, 43,1, 2003, pp. 3–19.
Ghemawat, P., Distance Still Matters: The Hard Reality of Global Expansion, Harvard Business Review, 79,8, 2001, pp. 137–147.
Ghoshal, S./ Hahn, M./ Moran, P., Management Competence, Firm Growth and Economic Process, Contributions to Political Economy, 18,1, 1999, pp. 121–150.
Gnyawali, D. R./ Grant, J. H., Enhancing Corporate Venture Performance through Organizational Learning, The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 5,1, 1997, pp. 74–98.
Kim, W. C./ Mauborgne, R. A., Effectively Conceiving and Executing Multinationals’ World Wide Strategies, Journal of International Business Studies, 24,3, 1993, pp. 419–448.
Kostova, T., Transnational Transfer of Strategic Organizational Practices: A Contextual Perspective, Academy of Management Review, 24,2, 1999, pp. 308–324.
Nohria, N./ Ghoshal, S., Differentiated Fit and Shared Values: Alternatives for Managing Headquarters-Subsidiary Relations, Strategic Management Journal, 15,6, 1994, pp. 491–502.
Penrose, E. T., The Theory of the Growth of the Firm, Oxford: Basil Blackwell 1959.
Pitelis, C., A Theory of the Growth of the Transnational Firm, Contributions to Political Economy, 19,1, 2000, pp. 71–89.
Pitelis, C., A Note on Cyert and March (1963) and Penrose (1959): A Case for Synergy, mimeo, 2005.
Prahalad, C. K./ Bettis, R. A., The Dominant Logic: A New Linkage between Diversity and Performance, Strategic Management Journal, 7,6, 1986, pp. 485–501.
Rugman, A. M./ Verbeke, A., A Note on the Transnational Solution and the Transaction Cost Theory of Multinational Strategic Management, Journal of International Business Studies, 23,4, 1992, pp. 761–771.
Rugman, A. M./ Verbeke, A., Subsidiary-specific Advantages in Multinational Enterprises, Strategic Management Journal, 22,3, 2001, pp. 237–250.
Rugman, A. M./ Verbeke, A., Edith Penrose’s Contribution to the Resource-based View of Strategic Management, Strategic Management Journal, 23,8, 2002, pp. 769–780.
Rugman, A. M./ Verbeke, A., Extending the Theory of the Multinational Enterprise: Internalization and Strategic Management Perspectives, Journal of International Business Studies, 34,2, 2003, pp. 125–137.
Rugman, A. M./ Verbeke, A., A Perspective on Regional and Global Strategies of Multinational Enterprises, Journal of International Business Studies, 35,1, 2004, pp. 3–18.
Rugman, A. M./ Verbeke, A./ Yuan, W., Re-conceptualizing the Classification of Subsidiary Roles in Multinational Enterprises, mimeo, 2005.
Scott, R., Institutions and Organizations, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 1995.
Tallman, S./ Fladmoe-Lindquist, K., Internationalization, Globalization, and Capability-based Strategy, California Management Review, 45,1, 2002, pp. 116–135.
Tan, D., The Limits to the Growth of Multinational Firms in a Foreign Market, Managerial and Decision Economics, 24,8, 2003, pp. 569–582.
Verbeke, A./ Yuan, W., Subsidiary Autonomous Activities in Multinational Enterprises: A Transaction Cost Perspective, Management International Review, 45,1, 2005, pp. 31–52.
Xu, D./ Shenkar, O., Institutional Distance and the Multinational Enterprise, Academy of Management Review, 27,4, 2002, pp. 608–618.
Zaheer, S., Overcoming the Liability of Foreignness, Academy of Management Journal, 38,2, 1995, pp. 341–363.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Verbeke, A., Yuan, W. Entrepreneurship in multinational enterprises: A Penrosean perspective. MANAGE. INT. REV. 47, 241–258 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-007-0014-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-007-0014-4