Innovation performance of a foreign subsidiary and its position within the network of a multinational enterprise - the perspective of subsidiaries established in Poland

An important stream of research on multinational enterprises (MNEs) concerns the growing role of foreign subsidiaries (FSs) in the creation and acquisition of knowledge leading to innovative solutions. Numerous studies (conducted mostly in mature economies) are focused on the influence of FSs’ relationships with actors within the internal MNE network, and with independent partners in the FS host country on FSs’ innovation performance, and on their position in MNE. The great importance of MNEs for the Polish economy and their share in sales of innovative products, as well as the varying assessments of Poland’s attractiveness for foreign investors, encourages the research on the determinants of MNEs’ strategic decisions regarding the future of subsidiaries established in Poland.

Within the framework of the project (carried out within the consortium of the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) and Poznań University of Economics (UEP)), an original model explaining selected determinants of the innovation-related position of FSs in the MNE network was developed and tested on a sample of 440 FSs established in Poland. The following determinants of FSs’ innovation performance were included in the study: the innovation capacity of the FS host economy, the innovative potential of FSs, FSs’ linkages to the actors within the MNE internal network, as well as the relations of FSs with external partners in the host country. These factors directly or indirectly affect subsidiaries’ positions within the MNE system.