本研究的主要目的為探討多國籍企業子公司演化過程中中少被注意到的焦點-子公司角色如何改變及什麼因素會造成其改變。本研究認為子公司專精資源以及受威脅程度會透過主導行為的作用影響到子公司決策的自主性。本研究有數點發現。第一,子公司專精資源以及受威脅程度會影響到子公司採取不同類型的主導行為,而不同類型的主導行為則會進一步影響子公司決策自主權。第二,本研究亦發現探索型的主導行為與子公司的決策自主權有高度相關。第三,本研究亦發現利用型的子公司主導行為與探索型主導行為間有顯著相關。本研究實証結果指出,子公司不僅只於可以決定其在母公司內所扮演的角色,亦可以決定其自身演化的方向。
In this study, we propose a theoretical model to examine why and how subsidiary change its roles. We identify subsidiary's specialized resources and perceived threat as antecedents to influence subsidiary's decision-making autonomy with exploration-based initiatives and exploitation-based initiatives as underlying mechanism. Our results show that (a) specialized resources and perceived threat in combination with exploration-based initiative have positive impacts on subsidiary's decision-making autonomy; (b) exploration-based initiative is strongly associated with decision-making autonomy; (c) exploitation-based initiative is positively associated with exploration-based initiative. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.