This paper emphasizes, initially, the contributions of Organizational Studies for the understanding of multinational corporations. As a result of the capacity to influence others actors in local, national, regional, international, and transnational contexts, the multinational corporations challenge the traditional approaches of Organizational Studies that are followed by researchers in the International Management field. As follows, the paper explores the possibilities and limits of the approaches of institutional theory for the understanding of multinational corporations' subsidiaries. This theoretical approach can assist on the study of these corporations as much as on the nature of the differences among institutions in the diverse countries of operation because it allows the simultaneous analysis of multiples institutional contexts. As result, this paper contributes to the theoretical development of the interfaces between the Organizational Studies and International Management fields, in what regards inquiries that emphasize the strategic role of subsidiaries.
headquarters-subsidiaries relationship; international management; organizational studies; institutional theory
