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Translation of relational practices in an MNC subsidiary: Symmetrical, asymmetrical and substitutive strategies

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Abstract

Extant research on knowledge transfer within multinational corporations has increasingly focused on knowledge flow, but ignored the process of knowledge translation. Building on translation theory, this article seeks to explain how the translation of relational practices by local Chinese managers occurs in a Swedish multinational corporation subsidiary in China. The findings show that middle managers in the subsidiary adopt three different translation strategies: symmetrical, asymmetrical and substitutive. These strategies and their key drivers, and implications for further research, are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported through a post-doctoral research scholarship granted to the first author by the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation. We would like to express appreciation for the valuable support and feedback on prior versions of this article by the outgoing Editor-in-Chief Harukiyo Hasegawa and two anonymous reviewers. We also thank the participants of the Management Innovation Practices Research Programme at Stockholm University School of Business for constructive comments on an earlier draft; and the members of SBCC who participated in this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stockholm University School of Business, Stockholm, SE-106 91, Sweden

    Robert Demir

  2. Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University, Uppsala, SE-751 20, Sweden

    Daniella Fjellström

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  1. Robert Demir
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  2. Daniella Fjellström
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Demir, R., Fjellström, D. Translation of relational practices in an MNC subsidiary: Symmetrical, asymmetrical and substitutive strategies. Asian Bus Manage 11, 369–393 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/abm.2012.13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/abm.2012.13

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