Success Factor: Core Values: Managing national differences in a Multinational Company

Abstract: Expanding a business across borders has become more of a rule than an exception in the globalized world of today. One overlooked dimension in the internationalization strategies of companies is however how they can create cohesion among the different cultures existing within such a multinational corporation. This study examines one value creating strategy of a Swedish company to its subsidiary in Barcelona, Spain and the possible impediments that they have experienced through their change process. Swedish based NFS has been the study subject of choice and it is their implementation process of a set of guiding principles as an extension to their original core values that has been investigated. It is a qualitative case study building the analysis on a thorough theoretical review and gathered empirical data made through a field study, with the purpose to explore how the implementation process of the values has functioned, how the present national differences have affected the process and what have been the main difficulties. With the analysis, various results have been identified through four sub-categories found crucial for the success of the implementation process. A lack of presence in all the four dimensions has been observed that subsequently has led to a non-completion of the implementation cycle of the values. This could partly be explained by the prevailing national differences between head quarters and subsidiary. Although the format of a single case study, the results can be generalized to some extent, giving some insights to companies looking to expand their business across borders.