Multinational corporations are forced by the increasing globalization to coordinate their various operations on the basis of an integrated network management. Roland Böttcher examines the literature on global network approaches. The importance of a pro-active management of informal relationships across national borders is shown by his empirical study.

Verzeichnis: Roland Böttcher belegt die herausragende Bedeutung eines proaktiven Managements informeller Beziehungen im internationalen Steuerungskontext.

Globales Netzwerkmanagement

Autorentext

Dr. Roland Böttcher was senior lecturer at the Chair of Business Administration, Universität Dortmund. He is now working in the field of Management Consulting.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Philosophical Underpinnings.- 3. The Globalization Phenomenon.- 3.1 The Pre-Global School of International Management.- 3.2 External Factors Reinforcing Globalization.- 3.3 The Global School of International Management.- 3.4 Reconsidering Geo-Centrism: A Plea for Global Orientation.- 4. Global Decision-Making.- 4.1 Decision-Making in Complex Firms.- 4.2 The External Environment of MNCs.- 4.3 The Nature of Global Decision-Making.- 5. Organizational Implications of Globalization.- 5.1 Organizational Design in International Management.- 5.2 Organizational Research in the Tradition of the 'Structure Follows Strategy' Paradigm.- 5.3 The Global Network Debate.- 5.4 General Characteristics of Global Networks.- 6. Network Research.- 6.1 Structural Network Analysis.- 6.2 Social Network Analysis.- 6.3 Interorganizational Network Research.- 7. Developing a MNC-Network Perspective.- 7.1 The MNC between Social and Interorganizational Networks.- 7.2 The MNC-Network Framework.- 7.2.1 MNC-Network Nodes.- 7.2.2 MNC-Network Relations.- 7.2.3 Studying the Operating Core of MNCs from a Network Perspective: The Vertical and Horizontal Network Level.- 8. The Coordination and Decision Framework.- 8.1 Network Management of Change: Planned Evolution.- 8.2 Context Management.- 8.3 The C&D Framework.- 9. Research Methodology.- 10. The Management of Coordination and Decision Processes in Global Firms.- 10.1 Structural Context Management of C&D Interactions.- 10.2 Managerial Context Management of C&D Interactions.- 11. Conclusions and Implications for Future Research.- 11.1 Summary of the Research Findings.- 11.2 Conclusions.- 11.3 Directions for Future Research.- Appendix A: Selected Organization Theories.- Appendix B: Sample Selection.- Appendix C: Research Instrument.-Appendix D: Descriptive Statistics.