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How R&D is coordinated in Japanese and European multinationals
Author(s) -
Reger Guido
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
randd management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.253
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1467-9310
pISSN - 0033-6807
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9310.00118
Subject(s) - multinational corporation , business , exploratory research , empirical research , industrial organization , conceptual framework , knowledge management , international trade , sociology , finance , computer science , philosophy , epistemology , anthropology , social science
What are the suitable forms and mechanisms for the coordination of international R&D and innovation processes in multinational corporations? This paper sets out to answer this question by exploratory research and interviews in 18 European and Japanese companies. As a conceptual background, four different categories of coordination mechanisms are generated (‘structural’, ‘hybrid’, ‘informal’ and ‘internal markets’). The empirical results show that Japanese companies make intensive use of personal contacts, informal communication and socialisation whereas European enterprises rely more on internal markets in R&D.