Multinationella företags organisation. Ett nyinstitutionellt ekonomiskt perspektiv på samordning

Sammanfattning: During the 1980s and the 1990s several researchers have described new organisational features and a new organisational form in multinational enterprises, linked to a variety of theoretical approaches. Can the new organisational features be analysed from a consistent theoretical basis, and can, hereby, a new organisational form be distinguished from earlier forms? The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a theory for multinational enterprise organisation; a theory that analyses new organisational features from a co-ordination perspective based on the New Institutional Economic theory. This study offers a synthesised description of new organisational features based on previous research in the field. This description is complemented and illustrated by data collected from a group of Swedish-based multinational enterprises. The identified organisational features are analysed from a co-ordination perspective based on New Institutional Economic theory, which is extended by contributions from organisation theory. Hereby, a theory for co-ordination mechanisms and co-ordination forms is developed. Four co-ordination mechanisms are identified: authority, price, rules and ideology. The choice of one mechanism over the other depends on the transaction costs each mechanism incurs. Different co-ordination forms are then analysed, especially the multidivisional form (M-form) of large diversified enterprises. The M-form is used as a basis for analysing new organisational features in multinational enterprises. By analysing new organisational features, eight new "multi-aspects" in the international M-form are identified. In short, these "multi-aspects" modify and extend the use of co-ordination mechanisms to reduce transaction costs. These modifications and extensions impose distinctive new elements on the international M-form, which lead to the identification and description of a new co-ordination form, the Web-form (W-form).