Subsidiary managers as communication pins to headquarters are responsible for providing headquarters with relevant information. While research informs us about what subsidiary managers say, we do not know what they remain silent about and why. Given the importance of understanding information flows within MNCs, I explore subsidiary managers’ motivations for silence vis-à-vis headquarters. Drawing on interviews with subsidiary managers of Western-owned MNC subsidiaries in South Korea and adopting a classical and a social view of agency, my findings suggest that subsidiary managers’ silence is contextual and motivated by three dimensions: managing subsidiary image, managing headquarters relations, and managing local context.

子公司经理作为总部的通讯针，负责向总部提供相关信息。尽管研究可以告诉我们子公司经理所说的话，但我们不知道他们对什么保持沉默以及为什么。考虑到理解跨国公司内部信息流动的重要性，我探讨了子公司经理相对于总部保持沉默的动机。根据对韩国西方跨国公司子公司的子公司经理的采访，并采用经典的和社会性的代理观点，我的发现表明，子公司经理的沉默是与环境相关的，其动机来自三个方面：管理子公司形象，管理总部关系，和管理本地环境。