Intra-firm Competition and Cooperation in Japanese Multinational Corporations

Abstract

This study investigates the nature of competition and cooperation between headquarters and subsidiaries and that between subsidiaries in Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs). First, this paper conducted case studies of six Japanese manufacturing subsidiaries in Thailand to clarify the condition in which competition between the headquarters and a subsidiary for subsidiary autonomy occurs. By doing so, this study clarified two findings. First, weak monitoring by headquarters can suppress competition between the headquarters and a subsidiary. Second, high subsidiary performance can encourage competition between the headquarters and a subsidiary when low level of subsidiary autonomy causes trouble in the subsidiary. Second, this study also conducted ordinary least squares regression analysis based on a questionnaire survey of 48 Japanese manufacturing subsidiaries in Thailand to investigate the relationship between competition and cooperation in subsidiaries. The result showed that high levels of competition are positively associated with high levels of cooperation. This implies that inter-subsidiary competition does not necessarily suppress cooperation between subsidiaries.