Organization in-Between: The Evolution of the Mother-Daughter Structure of Managing Foreign Subsidiaries in Swedish MNCS

In-depth case studies of 4 times and a questionnaire survey of 52 companies show that the mother-daughter structure prevalent in Swedish MNCs is changing. Firms tends to adopt organizational structures ’in between’ a pure mother-daughter one and one divided along product or technology lines. Rather than introducing formal matrix structure, relatively simple organizational forms are complimented by changes in informational systems, budgeting procedures, rotation of personnel, and so forth. The control style is changing in the direction of slightly more formal performance evaluation. The changes can be understood as adaptation to growing size of the firms, increased product diversity, acquisitions of foreign companies, technological maturity, entry of new managers, and slower demand growth.© 1984 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1984) 15, 109–123