Organisation und Steuerung von internen Dienstleistungseinheiten in multinationalen Unternehmen

This discussion paper provides an overview of conceptual arguments and empirical findings with respect to services within multinational corporations. The focus of the analysis is on the organization and managment of efficient internal services, particularly in global firms. Unfortunately, these service activities are often regarded as "non-valuable-services" not being considered as part of the core competencies of the corporation. Whether or not internal services are characterized as "value-added" does not depend on the sort of activity but on the way in which these services are organized and managed. Based on theoretical thoughts and on empirical evidence, new trends in the organization of services within multinational firms will be shown. These trends shift away from traditional thinking about strong centralized versus decentralized service units, towards a "distributed service-configuration". The aim of the analysis is to find out a general strategy, based on project management, for the design and development of "value-added" services. A case-study, highlighting the "building up" process of a Shared Service Center in a chemicals-pharmaceuticals company, will emphasize the relevance of a hybrid and "distributed" service-configuration.