One family firm, four families : developing management models of a family values-based MNC

Abstract

<div lang="en" class="abs"><p class="abs_header">Abstract</p><p>The present study approaches the internationalisation of family MNCs through the concept of a management model to examine the enactment of family values in the practice of MNC units. The study relies on the MNCs-as-network-organisations perspective, according to which an MNC is a complex web of interdependent relationships with subsidiaries embedded in their own local networks and individuals operating within them. The management model draws attention to choices about how work gets done at the firm level. We adopt a micro-level approach in an attempt to define the practices that carry the values from the historical development path of a family firm to the management models of its subsidiaries. The empirical part of the study presents an examination of a family-owned multinational and three of its subsidiaries in Sweden, Russia and the USA. The findings illustrate the family values of the MNC as a nexus that guides the operations and sets the direction of the firm in the long term, but they take different manifestations in the management models of the subsidiaries.</p></div>