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AALTO UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS ABSTRACT:

International Business Master’s Thesis December 20, 2011 Wilhelmiina Ketonen

Transfer of Responsible Lending Practices in an MNC - Case of a Consumer Finance Company

Objectives of the study

Existing literature has not paid proper attention to the transfer of value-infused practices in multinational corporations (MNCs) and has similarly neglected the individual actor in transfer situations. Overall, transfer processes have been viewed too simplistically. The aim of this study was to study the transfer of a value-infused practice, responsible lending, within an MNC and its local subsidiary. Furthermore, it aimed to identify the role of individual employees in a transfer situation. Therefore, the study presented two main research questions 1) What kind of responsible lending practices does a subsidiary implement locally? How are they implemented across organizational levels within the subsidiary? 2) How are these practices transferred from the corporate headquarters via regional headquarters to the local subsidiary?

Methodology

This thesis was conducted as a single case study, consisting of qualitative, semi-structured interviews and supportive use of documentation. Altogether fifteen interviews were conducted, thirteen at the local subsidiary level and two at the regional headquarters level. The practices of the corporate headquarters were in turn determined through documentation and the above-mentioned interviews.

Findings and Conclusions

This study shows that responsible lending is important and implemented within the entire organization, since it is viewed as an obvious choice for operators in the financial industry and as strategically important. However, these practices are hardly transferred from the headquarters to the subsidiary or within the subsidiary. The reason why responsible lending practices do not transfer is because of the social and cultural determinants, the nature of relationships within the organization, the value-infused nature of the practice, and because the practice seems to be taken for granted. Therefore, this study contributes to the existing literature by representing the concept of negative transfer and depicting how value-infused practices and individual actors affect the transfer situation.

Keywords

responsible lending, transfer of organizational practices, MNCs, corporate social responsibility, value-based practices, institutional theory