Proceedings of The 6th International Conference on Applied Research in Business, Management and Economics
Year: 2023
DOI:
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Issue-Selling and Feedback-Seeking Behavior in MNCs
Yoko Ohno
ABSTRACT:
This paper examines the relation between organizational context and issue-selling behavior of middle managers in subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs). Middle managers need to sell their issues in order to receive allocation of resources from headquarters. Research argues that there are two factors that influence issue selling: personal attributes and contextual factors. In particular, situational cues at headquarters influence the success of issue selling. However, despite the importance of this factor for successful issue selling, research on the process of how middle managers cope is insufficient. Based on grounded theory analysis of semi-structured interviews of 16 middle managers belonging to two Japanese MNCs, this study suggests that feedback-seeking behavior mediates the relation between situational cues at headquarters and middle managers’ issue-selling behavior. In addition, this research indicates that middle managers use two different types of feedback-seeking behaviors—observation and inquiry—depending on their perceived risk of damage to avoid the risk of damaging their own image. We suggest that feedback-seeking behavior of middle managers can be categorized into four types based on the perceived risk of issue sellers and the size of their social capital at headquarters.
keywords: middle managers, perceived risk, social capital, situational cues, subsidiary