Influence of technological attributes on subsidiary technology sourcing: A case study in Ibero-America

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates the influence of technological attributes on the sourcing of relevant production technologies by subsidiaries based in the Ibero-American region. We draw on the concept of strategic roles, internal embeddedness, capacity, and organizational learning. We gained rich insights into the topic through a focus on case studies of German Multinational Companies and their production subsidiaries based in Peru, Brazil, Colombia and Spain. Semi-structural interviews, observation of the sourced technology and other data collection techniques were applied, and a cross-case analysis was implemented to obtain the results. This paper suggests that across Ibero-American production subsidiaries, production technology with certain complexity related to their strategic roles is internally sourced. Finally, the strategic role of the subsidiary and technology familiarity is low; external sources will be chosen regardless of the complexity of the technology. The findings have important implications for technology managers of Ibero-American based subsidiaries, who are decision makers in the sourcing of production technologies and offer empirical evidence to understand the positioning of some Ibero-American markets in the global innovation map.