The Differentiated Network: Organizing Multinational Corporations for Value Creation

by Nitin Nohria, Sumantra Ghoshal

Overview

Discover a Breakthrough Model for MNCs

In a dynamic global economy, multinational corporations (MNCs) face certain competitive challenges that traditional, hierarchical hub and spoke organizations simply aren't geared to meet. But in this landmark work, Harvard Business School professor Nitin Nohria and London Business School Professor Sumantra Ghoshal present a viable alternative — the differentiated network. Writing for managers seeking changes in their administrative systems that boost firm performance, and for academics engaged in research organization design, the authors detail how the competitive MNC can fully tap the value creation potential of its globally distributed capabilities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780787903312
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	02/26/1997
Series:	Jossey-Bass Business and Management Series
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.34(w) x 9.65(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

NITIN NOHRIA is professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School. He is the co-editor of Fast Forward and Networks and Organizations, and the co-author of Beyond the Hype. His teaching, research and consulting focus on designing and transforming organizations to achieve superior performance. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts. ANUP K. GHOSH is holder of the Robert P. Bauman Chair in Strategic Leadership at the London Business School. He has also taught in the Sloan School, MIT, and at France's INSEAD. Co-author of Managing Across the Borders and other books, his award-winning case stutides, research and consulting focus on the management of large worldwide firms. He lives in London, England.

Table of Contents

Preface.

The Differentiated Network.

DISTRIBUTED INNOVATION IN THE DIFFERENTIATED NETWORK.

Distributed Innovation in Multinational Corporations (MNCs).

Optimal Slack for Distributed Innovation.

Creation, Adoption, and Diffusion of Innovations Across the MNC.

DIFFERENTIATION AND INTEGRATION.

Internal Differentiation Within the MNC.

Formal Structure and Shared Values.

Integration Through Interunit Communication.

Integration Through Interpersonal Networks.

LIMITS AND EXTENSIONS OF THE DIFFERENTIATED NETWORK.

Requisite Complexity.

Beyond the Differentiated Network.

Methodological Appendix.

References.

The Author.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

Based upon their case studies of nine multinational corporations (MNCs) and surveys of the CEOs of 63 North American and European MNCs, Nohria (Harvard Business School) and Ghoshal (London Business School) provide empirically-grounded organizational theory for how such corporations can flourish in the global economy. Building upon the product cycle theory of Vernon (1966), which proposes that the ability to innovate is the "raison d'etre" of MNCs, the authors contend that successful MNCs require intra- and inter-subsidiary differentiation and integration of values and functioning to optimize use of resources, foster knowledge exchange, and innovation<-->counter to traditional hierarchical organizations. Methodological appendix. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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