Purpose

In the mainstream international business literature on multinational corporations (MNCs), an authoritative central headquarter (HQ) that transfers standardised practices to its subsidiaries remains the norm. This study aims to explore how MNCs coordinate their management practices through principles.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on empirical findings from a qualitative in-depth single case study based on evidence-rich qualitative data including observations from how a high-tech MNC headquartered in Sweden coordinates its development practices.

Findings

An alternative informal coordination approach (i.e. coordination by principles) is identified. Additionally, antecedents and implications of the approach are presented.

Practical implications

Coordination by Principles may facilitate the internalisation of practices and be a feasible compromise between context adaptation and traditional standardisation, particularly for MNCs with highly heterogeneous research and development operations.

Originality/value

This paper highlights the importance of acknowledging that firm practices often are based on management ideas that HQs adopt to prevent loss of legitimacy. As such, this study contributes to the scarce literature that critically questions the assumption that HQs solely transfer practices to subsidiaries to improve subsidiary efficiency and performance.

中文翻译：

---

按原则进行实践协调：当代跨国公司协调全球实践的方法

目的

在关于跨国公司 (MNC) 的主流国际商业文献中，将标准化实践转移到其子公司的权威中央总部 (HQ) 仍然是常态。本研究旨在探讨跨国公司如何通过原则协调其管理实践。

设计/方法/方法

本文借鉴了基于证据丰富的定性数据的定性深入单一案例研究的实证结果，包括对总部位于瑞典的高科技跨国公司如何协调其发展实践的观察。

发现

确定了另一种非正式的协调方法（即按原则进行协调）。此外，还介绍了该方法的前因和影响。

实际影响

原则上的协调可以促进实践的内部化，并成为环境适应和传统标准化之间的可行折衷方案，特别是对于具有高度异质性研发业务的跨国公司而言。

原创性/价值

本文强调了承认公司实践通常基于总部为防止失去合法性而采用的管理理念的重要性。因此，本研究为稀缺文献做出了贡献，这些文献对总部仅将实践转移到子公司以提高子公司效率和绩效的假设提出了批判性质疑。