Defensive initiatives and the power of the periphery

In this paper we critically question the assumption that corporate entrepreneurship from subsidiaries is always beneficial to both the subsidiary and the global firm. We inductively explore a longitudinal case study of a firm where corporate entrepreneurship is to the subsidiary's, but not the firm's benefit. From our findings we develop a process model of what we term 'defensive initiatives'. These represent a hitherto little noticed type of strategic initiative that the subsidiary uses against headquarters. Discussing the implications of these findings, we feature the idea of a 'ledger' of corporate entrepreneurship the global balance of which can be both beneficial and detrimental to the firm.