Weight Versus Voice: How Foreign Subsidiaries Gain Attention From Corporate Headquarters

Abstract

This study investigates how foreign subsidiaries gain attention from corporate headquarters. Using detailed questionnaire and archival data on 283 subsidiaries of multinational enterprises, our analysis revealed three significant findings. First, attention decisions are partially based on the structural positions that subsidiary units occupy within a corporate system–their “weight.” Second, a subsidiary also has a “voice” of its own that it can use to attract attention. Third, the relationship between a subsidiary's voice and headquarters attention is moderated by two specific aspects of the subsidiary's historical situation: geographic distance and downstream competence.