Historicizing local responsiveness in distant markets Christina Lubinski, Copenhagen Business School

Emerging Market Archives Management and Organization Research in Distant Markets – lack of data, different culture of record- keeping and access, lack of funding for record-keeping institutions Archival documents -- from governments (plural!), also from MNE’s, cultural institutions, … reflect fiction and fact, sandwiched between bureaucratic and societal conventions of recording and remembering bring into play many issues of power, control, memory, forgery and fabrication contests over power, efforts to find belonging and community

Stoler, Along the Archival Grain Stoler, A. L. (2009) Stoler, Along the Archival Grain Stoler, A. L. (2009). Along the Archival Grain: Epistemic Anxieties and Colonial Common Sense. Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press.

Example of German MNE’s in India

Multinational Archives as a Source for Management and Organization Research MNE’s archives as complement to imperial/government source perspectives Comparative perspectives (several companies from different home countries, different gov’t perspectives) Unique value of historical archives for studying emerging markets: Historicizing concepts (genealogy of concepts) Development of cognitive frameworks and identities Origin and long-term development of resources/comparative advantages Spill-overs and learning processes Decision-making/entrepreneurship in real-world settings

Archives of Multinationals (MNEs) Sources for researchers in Management and Organization Studies & Business History Decentralized, yet accessible Some continuously managed: Siemens Archive since 1907, Bayer Archive since 1908 Corporate archives as institutions (and own subject of study) Siemens archives [1930s], © Siemens corporate archives

Sources in Corporate Archives Understanding business in complex real-world settings over time Often mosaic of extremely detailed descriptions -- but spotty over time Impact of business on markets but also politics, society, culture, power relations (race, gender, class, …) Text and images (including maps) Siemens (India) Ltd. delivery service, undated, © Siemens corporate archives

Dealing with Gaps Survivor bias; large firm bias; challenge of self-promotion, sources on emerging markets, less often from emerging markets Reflections on reasons for the occurrences of gaps (explicit policies, removal, mindsets/cognitive frameworks…) Approaches to sampling (statistical, theoretical)

Source Criticism Not objectively accessible data but need for critically interpreting sources within the context of their production and storage Perspective of Western businesspeople with limited knowledge, cognitive frameworks and agenda for source production Triangulation, reflections on gaps Small sample and qualitative data analysis (coding, theoretical sampling, contextualization) Discussion of methodology and research design Record catalogue cover, © EMI Music Archives, 1907

Multiple Readings Sensemaking that occurs within these historical records The uses of history (for sense- making, for imagining or re- imagining communities, for marketing, …) What can we learn from the way files have been used, organized, grouped, interpreted at a specific time? Siemens (India) Ltd. delivery service, undated, © Siemens corporate archives

Research Example: Siemens Reports Internal reports by leading Siemens managers on category “markets with strong nationalist movements” Geographic scope: several countries in Latin America and Asia (i) similar growth potential, (ii) emerging middle classes, (iii) similar challenges due to nationalism/colonial or quasi-colonial history Siemens machine at Tata, 1910, © Siemens corporate archives Reflecting on the pros and cons of being “outsiders of colonialism”, building resources Considering spill-over effects Concept development

Take Aways Surprise as a methodological reflection: to be surprised, you come with a set of expectations; surprise signals a different interpretive scheme (but one that resonates -- - here: “markets with strong nationalist movements” in the context of today’s “emerging markets” debate) Conceptual history: historical semantics of terms; evolution of ideas and value systems over time Mosaic nature of historical research process

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