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Author:Euro, Kalevi. 
Title:Location changes of headquarters of multinational corporations : a theoretical study on the motives and reasons for relocating Finnish divisional headquarters abroad
Series:Acta Universitatis oeconomicae Helsingiensis. A, 1237-556X; 194
Series no:A-194
Year:2001  Thesis defence date: 2001-12-18
Discipline:International Business
Electronic dissertation: » dissertation in pdf-format   [16768 KB]
Index terms:Change; International companies; Kansainväliset yhtiöt; Location; Muutos; Sijainti
Language:eng
Bibid:273331  |  Availability info (Aalto-Finna)
ISBN:951-791-646-9
Abstract (eng):One of the recent features in the internationalization and growth process of Finnis h multinational companies (MNCs) and also of other Nordic MNCs has been the relocating o f many of their product division headquarters (DHQs) abroad . This relocation has taken plac e from the divisions' home country primarily to Western European `international centers' of high - level international interaction or the `economic hub' areas formed by them of high-leve l international interaction (Helle, 1989, 1990).

The phenomenon of relocating headquarters abroad has been little analyzed and there are only a few studies with some preliminary aspects concerning the possible background causes of the phenomenon . This research work seeks to deepen the understanding of the background aspect s and problems of DHQ relocation abroad . It penetrates some of the operational and cognitiv e aspects in a holistic mode, essentially from a theoretical point of view . The theoretical aspects consist of cognitive psychology, and the aspect of management research which is represented b y strategic reference point theory and transaction cost theory, both of which rest on behavioral psychology. In the theoretical approach, these are used as avenues of deduction : 1 . explanations given in public by managers of the relocated DHQ and received through the researcher's ow n personal interviews, 2a . literature representing logistic and cognitive information processing an d behavioral aspects in the field of management research, 2b . literature on spatio-temporal and other cognitive research in experimental psychology, and 3 . the researcher's own rather long experience as a consultant in relocation studies of firms in various industries .

This theoretical approach results in propositions consisting of an holistic cognitive-logisti c paradigm, a conceptual framework, with reference to the MNC division's growth developmen t abroad . According to the paradigm, this growth development characteristically contain s recurrent dynamic and reciprocal cognitive-logistic information processes of the DHQ, and consequently decisions based on these processes . In operationalizing the paradigm presented a set of detailed propositions is introduced in a consequential and justified system . These propositions concern the 1 . logistic information process, and the 2 . cognitive information process. In an evolutive sequence this latter process consists of the 2a. identity formation, 2b . social cognition, and 2c . spatio-temporal cognition of DHQ management and staff .

As a concluding argument for the propositions, it is maintained that in a situation of identit y changed by strong foreign growth and of the consequently changed social and environmenta l cognition of DHQ managers and staff, a strong need for new social knowledge arises . This need for new knowledge in carrying it intentionally into effect as a logistic information process i s perceived phenomenologically and experientially as an event in space and time by the manager s and staff of the DHQ. This perception, in the situation of a peripherally located and peripheral perceived DHQ, leads subsequently, under the various logistic information processing problem s perennially encountered, to the relocation of the DHQ .

The DHQ relocation is thus proposed to be a result of a continued reciprocal and dynami c action between the cognitive information process and the logistic information process in th e course of sustained international growth of Finnish MNCs, and the relocation is intended t o reduce DHQ management's boundednes of rationality.

It is argued in this hermeneutic and deductive research that the proposed paradigm represent s the explaining variable and the relocation decision of and by a DHQ represents the explaine d variable .

The theoretical implications of the work include a comparison of the proposed paradigm with the stages-model of internationalization of the firm, an evaluation of the research results in respect to `managerial logics' of transnational corporations and the international location o f various functions of MNCs . The managerial implications include important understanding o f the organizational `self' through the cognitive-logistic paradigm . Some very central and timel y topics for further paradigm-based research work are put forward .
Thesis defence announcement:
Ajanmukaisen tiedon tarve syynä monikansallisten yritysten pääkonttorien uudelleensijoittamiseen

VTM Kalevi Euron kansainvälisen liiketoiminnan alaan kuuluva väitöskirja Locational Changes of Headquarters of Multinational Corporations: A Theoretical Study on the Motives and Reasons for Relocating Finnish Divisional Headquarters Abroad tarkastetaan Helsingin kauppakorkeakoulussa (HKKK) tiistaina 18.12.2001. Väitöstilaisuus alkaa Chydenian PwC-salissa G112 klo 12. Vastaväittäjinä toimivat professori Bruce Kogut Pennsylvanian yliopistosta ja professori Göte Nyman Helsingin yliopistosta ja kustoksena professori Reijo Luostarinen HKKK:sta.

Tutkimuksessa käsitellään monikansallisten yritysten toimialapääkonttoreiden Helsingin seudulta Keski-Eurooppaan suuntautuneen muuton syitä. Kalevi Euro selvittää, minkälaisessa ongelmatilanteessa yritysjohto päätyy muuttoratkaisuun ja mikä on muuttopäätöksen syntyprosessi. Lähtötietona ovat yritysjohdon selitykset muuttamisen syistä, joiden problematisoinnin kautta paneudutaan myös selitysten taustatekijöihin.

Tutkimuksen tarkastelutapa on prosessuaalinen ja lähtötapahtumana on yrityksen voimakas kasvu ulkomailla. Peruslähtökohta on suomalaisyritysten historiallinen identiteetti, tälle rakentuva peilikuvallinen vuorovaikutussuhde ulkomaisiin toimijoihin sekä näistä samoin kuin tytäryritysverkostosta vaadittava ajantasainen tieto.

Korkeatasoisen tiedon saaminen eri puolilta maailmaa on yrityksen hengissä pysymisen perusedellytys. Tämän tiedon tarpeen havaitseminen osoitetaan tutkimuksessa olennaisesti fenomenologiseksi tilallis-ajalliseksi tapahtumaksi, jonka tiedostaminen esitetään yritysjohdon kokemusperäisen ja ongelmalähtöisen rationaalisen päättelyn ohella erääksi keskeiseksi pääkonttorin muuton selittäjäksi. Kuvatut tekijät ovat ratkaisevia yrityksen jokapäiväisessä toiminnassa ja sen turvaamisessa ja asettavat tehdyn muuttopäätöksen teoreettisesti ymmärrettävään viitekehykseen.

Tutkimus on monitieteinen ja selitysmalliksi on esitetty kognitiivis-logistinen informaatioprosessi. Työ perustuu yritysjohdon haastatteluihin, monipuoliseen kirjallisuuteen ja tutkijan omakohtaiseen kokemukseen yritysjohdon konsulttina sijaintipäätösten valmistelussa.
Opponents:Kogut, Bruce
professor
University of Pennsylvania, USA

Nyman, Göte
professor
University of Helsinki, Finland

Chairperson:Luostarinen, Reijo
professor
Aaltodoc:https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/11179