Brazilian Multinationals´ Competences: Impacts of a “Tug of War” Between Cultural Legacies and Global Mindedness

Abstract

This study investigates the simultaneous influences of culture and global mindedness on the foreign subsidiaries of Brazilian multinationals (BrMNs). Because the ability to develop competences abroad is critical for emerging multinationals competitiveness, we proposed hypotheses and tested a model for how the competences of subsidiaries may be affected by the dimensions of global mindedness and culture. To do so, we conducted a multilevel survey involving the headquarters and subsidiaries of major BrMNs. The results suggest that global mindedness, which encompasses global orientation, global knowledge, and global skills, is positively related to the development of subsidiaries´competencessubsidiaries´competences. By contrast, cultural factors, including power distance and uncertainty avoidance, are negatively related to competences development. Therefore, these dimensions may exert simultaneous and opposing stimuli and unaligned forces that affect the development of competences abroad, generating a "tug of war" effect.