RIEBセミナー

10:40 ～ 12:10

論題

Why Multinational Companies May (Not) Benefit from Covid-19: An Information Processing Perspective on Japanese Subsidiaries of German Companies

報告者

Julia KROH (Institute for Business Administration and Innovation Research, Kiel University)

概要

Multinational companies face several challenges in their daily business and consequently, in their innovation activities and as such, have high information processing requirements to deal with the uncertainty in their business environment and within their company. While information technologies enhance the information processing capabilities for formal structures and work routines, informal information exchange is necessary to guarantee the information flow for negotiations, knowledge transfer, and innovation activities. Drawing on information processing theory and knowledge-based view, the objective of this research is to analyze how Covid-19 influences the information processing requirements and capabilities in multinational companies based on the example of Japanese subsidiaries of German companies. We propose that subsidiary and headquarter profit from their extensive use of digital technologies in their daily business but that the break of informal information exchange hampers knowledge transfer and innovation activities.