This paper presents the evolution of a multinational's subsidiary, which is located in an emerging country, and aims to uncover barriers encountered during the evolution of the accomplishment of its intended strategic role. Throughout a historical study that goes back 40 years, the paper depicts milestones in the subsidiary's evolution and highlights barriers encountered to developing and deploying capabilities, whether they are transferred from HQ's or emerge from the subsidiary's embedding process. The results of this research point out the barriers a subsidiary faces while accomplishing its role and duties towards the ends of internationalization and evolution typologies that emerge from the interaction between local and corporate barriers.
subsidiary evolution; strategic roles; subsidiary capabilities; multinationals
