Purpose

In this paper, the authors contribute with insights on competition and cooperation in multinational enterprises with a focus on challenges related to these governance mechanisms in a knowledge development context. The mechanisms have been widely recognized as important for developing knowledge, but their contradicting nature implies considerable complexity when it comes to governance. The complexity is further increased as a result of the headquarters-subsidiary relationships. The aim of this paper is to contribute with theoretical and empirical insights on these aspects by focusing on the research question: How and why does competition and cooperation in an MNE emerge over time?

Design/methodology/approach

A manufacturing MNE with headquarters (HQ) in Sweden is analyzed on both HQ and subsidiary levels. Interviews with 24 managers in Sweden and India have been performed.

Findings

The study illustrates that competition and cooperation are integral aspects in HQ-subsidiary relationships. The results show that both competition and cooperation depend on environmental, organizational and object-related conditions and that these conditions influence the dynamics of the interplay. The importance of including a subsidiary perspective and the interdependencies in an MNE setting are emphasized.

Originality/value

The authors add to the discussion on the interplay between competition and cooperation as they play an important role for knowledge development in MNEs. The results indicate that they do not take place simultaneously, and therefore, the authors suggest that the dynamic can be better understood by focusing on the interplay and analyze the concepts separately.

中文翻译：

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知识开发的竞争-合作相互作用：总部-子公司视角

目的

在本文中，作者对跨国企业的竞争与合作提出了见解，重点关注知识发展背景下与这些治理机制相关的挑战。这些机制已被广泛认为对于发展知识很重要，但它们相互矛盾的性质意味着在治理方面相当复杂。由于总部与子公司的关系，复杂性进一步增加。本文的目的是通过关注以下研究问题，为这些方面提供理论和实证见解：跨国企业中的竞争与合作如何以及为何会随着时间的推移而出现？

设计/方法/途径

一家总部 (HQ) 位于瑞典的制造型跨国公司在总部和子公司层面进行了分析。对瑞典和印度的 24 位经理进行了访谈。

发现

该研究表明，竞争与合作是总部与子公司关系中不可或缺的方面。结果表明，竞争和合作都取决于环境、组织和与对象相关的条件，并且这些条件会影响相互作用的动态。强调了在跨国公司环境中包含子公司观点和相互依赖性的重要性。

原创性/价值

作者补充了关于竞争与合作之间相互作用的讨论，因为它们在跨国公司的知识发展中发挥着重要作用。结果表明它们不会同时发生，因此，作者建议通过关注相互作用并分别分析概念来更好地理解动态。