Subsidiary Entrepreneurship: The Case of Multinational Subsidiaries in an Emerging Southeast Asian Nation

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study entrepreneurship behaviour in multinational subsidiaries. This study is based on a questionnaire survey conducted in Malaysia. The survey instrument focuses on three key indicators of corporate entrepreneurship, firstly, entrepreneurship traits within the subsidiaries; secondly, strategic renewal or transformation of subsidiaries through renewal of key ideas; and finally, the existence of entrepreneurs individuals engaged in internal innovation and venturing. The findings indicated that more than 70 percent of the multinational subsidiaries practiced corporate entrepreneurship within their subsidiaries. This in turn had a positive relationship with the past performance of the subsidiaries, measured as return on assets, net income, as well as sales/revenue growth. Other findings are also reported. With few studies having examined entrepreneurial activity from the perspective of a subsidiary, and even less studies in the context of South Asian region, this study makes a valuable contribution to a growing body of literature in this direction.

Keywords: Subsidiary, Entrepreneurship, Corporate, Malaysia