New structures in MNCs based in small countries: A network approach

This article departs from traditional and former views on structural change and development in multinational firms. Pervez Ghauri, using data on Swedish firms' operations in Southeast Asia, looks at an increasing tendency for head offices to spawn subsidiaries which become independent and stronger than their parent. He uses a network approach to understand why this is happening. The phenomenon applies particularly to MNCs based in small countries like Sweden.