eThesis - School of Business electronic theses

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Summary Intra-firm linkages engage units of the MNE into a more coherent whole as more resource transfer and communication takes place among units. The relationship of intra-firm linkages to reciprocity and the number of activities performed at the host country were examined with a regression analysis.

Autonomy, on the other hand, gives units freedom to act according to their choice and an opportunity to adapt the company and its products to the local market. Autonomy was reflected to company size, age and nationality of the MNE via regression analysis.

Finally, subsidiary roles differ according to MNE strategy and location of the subsidiary. Roles were studied with ANOVA in terms of activities performed at the host country. Differences in current activities and the number of different activities were studied between headquarters, subsidiaries of foreign MNEs and affiliates of Finnish firms.

Conclusions While a significant relationship was observed between intra-firm linkages and reciprocity, no connection was observed between intra-firm linkages and the number of activities performed at the host country. Hence, it seems that the more resources companies transfer to other units, the more probable it is for them to also receive resources from other units. For autonomy, no significant relationship existed between company autonomy and size nor age. Nationality of the MNE, however, affected autonomy in a sense that foreign companies are more probable to have less autonomy than local firms. When subsidiary roles were studied, most subsidiaries in Finland were found to have a miniature replica like structure.