Coordinating the Global Firm

Description of the project

The study “Coordinating the Global Firm” was initiated in 2009 when we contacted eight multinational companies (MNCs) asking for access to carry out an exploratory study on how MNCs manage and deploy IT on a global scale. One underlying assumption was that this is a complex task given that MNCs conduct operations in different markets, cultures, and time zones simultaneously. Seven of the eight MNCs we contacted agreed to participate in this study. Initial funding for this venture was provided by Handelsbankens research foundation in 2009 – resources that allowed us to visit six European corporate headquarters (HQs) and five American subsidiaries. In addition, we visited two European subsidiaries 2010. Today, the study holds more than 30 hours of interviews, numerous documents and project plans, as well as secondary data in the form of prior research carried out at the participating MNCs. The empirical part of the project has been ended and the study is now ending with a number of submitted papers.