Media type: E-Article Title: Innovation and control in the multinational firm: A comparison of political and contingency approaches Contributor: Ambos, Björn; Schlegelmilch, Bodo B. Published: Wiley, 2007 Published in: Strategic Management Journal, 28 (2007) 5, Seite 473-486 Language: English DOI: 10.1002/smj.584 ISSN: 0143-2095; 1097-0266 Origination: Footnote: Description: AbstractThis study focuses on control mechanisms used by multinational corporations (MNCs) to manage their extra‐national R&D units. Drawing on both the literature on organizational power and contingency theory, this study develops and empirically tests a set of hypotheses aimed at explaining how headquarters control their overseas R&D units. Data collected from 134 R&D units of German MNCs serve to test the hypotheses. Results highlight the importance of the units' R&D mandate and its interdependence in explaining control mechanisms. Moreover, they indicate a relatively weak predictive power of political approaches compared to contingency approaches. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.