Oliver Gassmann
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Prof. Dr.
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Gassmann
First name
Oliver
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oliver.gassmann@unisg.ch
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+41 71 224 72 21
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  • Publication
    Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights in Weak Appropriability Regimes : The Case of de Facto Protection Strategies in China
    (Gabler Verlag, 2010-02-01)
    Keupp, Marcus Matthias
    ;
    Beckenbauer, Angela
    ;
    Gassmann, Oliver
    Many emerging economies are characterised by weak appropriability systems and absent legal systems to punish imitators. This places foreign firms' intellectual property rights at risk, because existing appropriation methods, such as patents or secrecy, cannot function effectively. This concern especially applies to China, the empirical context of this article. Such adverse conditions force managers to devise new strategies to safeguard their firms' intellectual property rights. Yet no evidence describes whether strategies exist, which forms they take, how they have evolved or how they get implemented. This article addresses this knowledge gap and explores strategies that managers have developed to achieve de facto protection, despite China's weak appropriability system. The analysis systematically explores 13 cases of foreign firms with wholly owned subsidiaries in China. The findings confirm that de facto strategies exist, describe how they work and detail how they were achieved. The findings suggest implications for both managers and academics.
    Type: journal article
    Journal: Management International Review
    Volume: 50
    Issue: 1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11575-009-0020-9
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/96837
    Scopus© Citations 67
  • Publication
    Why don't you use it: An attention-based view on the paradoxical non-recognition of foreign R&D subsidiaries
    ( 2008-06-20)
    Keupp, Marcus Matthias
    ;
    Gassmann, Oliver
    In this paper we examine why multinational companies (MNCs) do not recognise foreign R&D subsidiaries, despite the fact that these subsidiaries are wholly-owned and have valuable knowledge and capabilities. Research conducted over the last 20 years has consistently con-firmed this neglect of international R&D subsidiaries. This phenomenon is much at odds with predictions from various theories that have been used to analyse the MNC. We therefore employ a new theoretical perspective by using the attention-based view of the firm to build the argument that the varying degrees of subsidiary recognition are due to differences in corporate-level managerial attention with respect to the subsidiary's characteristics. We then hypothesise on specific action-related and structure-related subsidiary characteristics and test our hypotheses with intrafirm data from 93 foreign R&D subsidiaries. Our findings suggest that recognition is positively associated with action-related characteristics, but the findings are mixed for structure-related characteristics. Finally, we discuss implications for our theoretical understanding of the MNC.
    Type: conference paper
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/78192
  • Publication
    Subsidiary anti-nitiatives: Why do foreign subsidiaries decide to not leverage expertise to the firm?
    ( 2007-08-04)
    Keupp, Marcus Matthias
    ;
    Gassmann, Oliver
    Research on subsidiary initiatives has focussed a lot on the positive aspects of such initiatives for both the subsidiary and the global firm. In this paper we question the underlying assump-tion of this research that to leverage subsidiary expertise represents a Pareto improvement for both the global firm and the subsidiary. We then develop the idea of anti-nitiatives, that is, the conscious activities of a foreign subsidiary in a multinational firm that aim to not leverage the subsidiary's expertise to the global firm. We further distinguish 'active' and 'passive' anti-nitiatives. Following this conceptual development, we use a grounded theory approach to explore the reasons for the existence and persistence of anti-nitiatives by analysing a longitudinal single case study. We find ample evidence for the existence of anti-nitiatives and for the various forms they can take. We are also able to identify the reasons and enabling factors for their emergence. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for research on subsidiary initiatives, and we discuss some impacts for research on strategic initiatives.
    Type: conference paper
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/80332