Contemporary studies in international management field conceptualize subsidiaries as semi-autonomous entities. By involving in entrepreneurial undertakings and strategic activities, subsidiaries could contribute strategic value to parent multinational corporation (MNC). Distinguishing from previous researches derived from entrepreneurship theory and done by Birkinshaw and his colleagues, this study incorporated human capital theory and knowledge-based view (KBV) to fulfill the existing research gap and enlarged our understanding of subsidiary entrepreneurship. This research proposed two models to unlock and testify the underexplored phenomenon of subsidiary entrepreneurship. In the first model, this research incorporated human capital management in MNCs context and testified that not merely top management team (TMT) entrepreneurial leadership and subsidiary entrepreneurial culture were critical antecedents of subsidiary¡¦s strategic initiative, but the human resource management (HRM) practices of subsidiary talent management played an important mediator to generate the entrepreneurial system. In the second model, this study demonstrated the cross-field integration and synthesis of entrepreneurial literatures, human capital theory and knowledge-based view and expressed a more comprehensive illustration of strategic entrepreneurship. This study certified that absorptive capacity could facilitate subsidiary¡¦s entrepreneurial culture and further enhance subsidiary¡¦s strategic initiative. Moreover, subsidiary¡¦s practices of talent management could facilitate its absorptive capacity and further contribute to subsidiary¡¦s strategic outputs. By analyzing the empirical data collected from 202 MNCs¡¦ foreign subsidiaries in Asian area, this study testified that the subsidiaries which could contribute strategic value creation for parent MNCs should equip multilayer of initiative-takings: the local distinctive capability, market initiative and knowledge outflow. Furthermore, the HRM practices of talent management in subsidiary played critical mediating role on both the development of organizational capability, improvement of absorptive capacity and the enhancement of subsidiary strategic initiative. TMT entrepreneurial leadership was the core engine which could activate subsidiary¡¦s mechanisms to facilitate the activities of strategic value creations.

An empirical survey methodology is applied to test the research model and hypotheses proposed in this study. Five out of ten hypotheses are validated in our research model with Path Analysis. The research result reveals that the structural dimension of a group¡¦s social capital has the most impact on its absorptive abilities. On the other hand, a firm¡¦s absorptive capability of knowledge is affected by the relational dimensions of group external social capital. Furthermore, the result validates that both absorptive capability and the performance of project and product exhibit significant path dependency. This result will be useful to both the academic and business particularly in its advocacy of the cultivation of the structural dimension of a group¡¦s social capital.

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In this study we explored the relationship between absorptive capacity, knowledge sourcing strategy, alliance forms, and firm performance. Based on the literature and case study, we proposed the concept of knowledge sourcing strategy in alliance contexts, which can be categorized into two types¡Xknowledge internalization strategy and knowledge access strategy. From organizational learning perspective, we argue that a firm¡¦s absorptive capacity has a positive influence on knowledge internalization strategy, and accordingly a firm¡¦s governance choices of alliances are also influenced. Firm¡¦s R&D performance are also included in theoretical model in order to generate further managerial implications. Instead of using conventional regression method, we adopt Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to conduct path-analysis, in that SEM is well suited to verifying causal models. We argue that firms should seek a better alignment between absorptive capacity, knowledge sourcing strategy, alliance forms, and firm performance. Our arguments are supported by empirical analysis of a sample of 148 R&D alliances involving computer, telecommunication, LCD/LED, semiconductor, and electronic machinery industry.

Multiple customer needs and rapid technological change are what MNCs are confronted with, thus, they rely on subsidiaries responding to local market needs. The ability of subsidiaries to integrate resources to respond to market opportunities determines its competitiveness, and contributes to whole corporate. The purpose of this dissertation is to construct an integrative framework toward generating subsidiary initiatives and competitiveness. Structural equation modeling was employed to verify the conceptual framework. Based on the results of SEM, entrepreneurial leadership of top management teams enhances the talent on the process of human-capital leveraging to facilitate them to be creative and agile; further, promote collective learning among members. Additionally, with the support of top management teams, learning culture of subsidiaries can be strengthened. Support of top management team, human-capital leveraging and learning culture, improve the absorptive capacity, further, they promote subsidiary initiatives and competitiveness.

<p>Absorptive capacity is fundamental for small-middle enterprises to increase their innovativeness and competitiveness in the market place. Human resources, being the most important asset in SMEs, might help firms to obtain adequate levels of absorptive capacity through a planned set of human resource practices. The hu-man costs of implementing such practices, however, cannot be neglected, and this paper studies the relationship between these different variables.</p>

How can we understand the innovativeness of firms or organizations in general, and how should we assess it in terms of nontechnological innovation? My paper deals with these two questions. The “ability” of companies to adapt to new circumstances, to create new products, processes and new knowledge, has been conceptualized in many approaches. Some of them simply define a list of “(critical) success factors” or “(key) performance indica-tors”, as tools for ranking and evaluation, without any theoretical reference. Others, like the resource-based or capability-based approach(es), work with theoretical references, but are still very weak in operationalizing of what they call “capability”. My paper gives a critical description of this situation and offers a new proposal to classify and to measure the “inclination” of organizations to innovate in all dimensions. This proposal roots in pragmatistic thinking as represented in the theory of reflexive modernization and in the pragmatist version of organizational learning theory. Empirically, it has been applied merely in case studies yet. A survey project is in preparation.

Die rapide voranschreitende Globalisierung der Weltwirtschaft wird letztlich getragen von der zunehmenden Anzahl international aktiver Unternehmen. Diese Prozesse der verstärkten Involvierung von Unternehmen in internationale Aktivitäten, bzw. die Anpassung von Strategien, Strukturen und Ressourcen von Unternehmen an internationale Umgebungen werden als ‚betriebliche Internationalisierungsprozesse‘ definiert. Aus Sicht der Betriebswirtschaftslehre als einer gestaltungsorientierten Disziplin erwachsen aus betrieblichen Internationalisierungsprozessen neue Anforderungen an das Management von Unternehmen. Diese bestehen darin, Internationalisierungsprozesse aktiv zu gestalten und so das Überleben des Unternehmens in einer zunehmend globalisierten Wettbewerbsumwelt nachhaltig zu sichern. Ziel der Arbeit ist es erstens, einen Vorschlag für ein integratives Prozessverständnis von betrieblicher Internationalisierung auszuarbeiten, indem eine konzeptionelle Brücke zwischen Stufenmodellen, Netzwerkmodellen und International-New-Venture Modellen der Internationalisierung geschlagen wird. Zweitens wird dieses integrative Prozessverständnis dazu genutzt, wesentliche Gestaltungsfelder eines betrieblichen Internationalisierungsmanagement aufzuzeigen. Für die Entwicklung eines integrativen Prozessverständnisses und damit verbunden für ein Managementmodell der Internationalisierung erschließt die Arbeit das Konzept der Absorptionsfähigkeit von Unternehmen.

In order to sell products in the defense industry it is often demanded of the seller to reinvest capital and collaborate with companies in the buying country, with the buyer hoping to establish a defense industry of their own. These so called offset demands are seen as an industry standard and forces the sellers to open up their supply chain and educate and develop the industry in the buying country. This “forced” knowledge transfer is an interesting topic and have been the focus point of this thesis. How can firms conduct successful knowledge transfer and develop the foreign industry and at the same time protects its own products and competitive advantage? This qualitative study has been done through interviews with four people having senior positions and a vast knowledge and background in working with offsets, combined with secondary data from previous studies and articles. The study showed that the most important factor for a successful knowledge transfer is the absorptive capacity of the partner and buying country. Furthermore, the success also lies in the offset regulations of the buyer, if you ask for the wrong things or in the wrong way, the industrial effects will be very limited. The Swedish firms were not afraid of sharing their knowledge since they had the confidence that they would keep to stay ahead of any new upcoming competitor, therefore a minor factor to consider. Lastly offsets have often been portrayed negatively. However, if successfully conducted, several positive effects of offsets have been identified by the authors. Showing that even though partnerships may an “arranged marriage” it can still become successful.

This thesis presents a Hamiltonian formulation of the electromagnetic fields in structured (inhomogeneous) media of arbitrary dimensionality, with arbitrary material dispersion and absorption consistent with causality. The method is based on an identification of the photonic component of the polariton modes of the system. Although the medium degrees of freedom are introduced in an oscillator model, only the macroscopic response of the medium appears in the derived eigenvalue equation for the polaritons. For both the discrete transparent-regime spectrum and the continuous absorptive-regime spectrum, standard codes for photonic modes in nonabsorptive systems can easily be leveraged to calculate polariton modes. Two applications of the theory are presented: pulse propagation and spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC). In the propagation study, the dynamics of the nonfluctuating part of a classical-like pulse are expressed in terms of a Schr\"{o}dinger equation for a polariton effective field. The complex propagation parameters of that equation can be obtained from the same generalized dispersion surfaces typically used while neglecting absorption, without incurring additional computational complexity. As an example I characterize optical pulse propagation in an Au/MgF$_2$ metallodielectric stack, using the empirical response function, and elucidate the various roles of Bragg scattering, interband absorption and field expulsion. Further, I derive the Beer coefficient in causal structured media. The SPDC calculation is rigorous, captures the full 3D physics, and properly incorporates linear dispersion. I obtain an expression for the down-converted state, quantify pair-production properties, and characterize the scaling behavior of the SPDC energy. Dispersion affects the normalization of the polariton modes, and calculations of the down-conversion efficiency that neglect this can be off by 100$\%$ or more for common media regardless of geometry if the pump is near the band edge. Furthermore, I derive a 3D three-wave group velocity walkoff factor; due to the interplay of a topological property with a symmetry property, I show that even if down-conversion is into a narrow forward cone, neglect of the transverse walkoff can lead to an overestimate of the SPDC energy by orders of magnitude.