28/10/2004CISC Seminar 1 The Evolution of Multinational Computer Services Affiliates in Ireland Konstanze Höchtberger Dr. Mark C. White Dr. Seamus Grimes Paper available at:

28/10/2004CISC Seminar 2 Organisation of the paper Research framework for the affiliate evolution process Choice of the case studies: three Irish- based IT services affiliates The Key Findings – what factors drive affiliate evolution in Ireland? Future research

28/10/2004CISC Seminar 3 Research Framework Industry Context: Wintelist form of competition Coupling of business services and manufacturing Corporate Context: Heterarchy in organisation and intracorporate competition Bounded rationality Affiliate context: Performance and managerial attitude Interpersonal corporate relationships Host economy context: Technology embeddedness Stakeholder intervention

28/10/2004CISC Seminar 4 The overseas ICT sector in Ireland FDI-induced economic boom of the 1990s led to near full employment Economic policies now prioritising higher quality FDI projects and focusing on repeat investments Emphasis on higher value activities like software development and R&D Increased involvement of overseas ICT firms in IT services as a by-product of wider shifts in corporate strategy

28/10/2004CISC Seminar 5 Top IT services firms in Ireland Company2002 SalesStaff HP services IBM Global services65800 Fujitsu55850 Accenture50600 EDS23500 Cap Gemini Ernst & Young19100 Siemens Business Services18200 Bearing Point17100 Dell15- Cara Group14200 CSC-300

28/10/2004CISC Seminar 6 Choice of Case Studies IBMEDSHP HQ LocationArmonk, NYPlano, TXPalo Alto, CA Irish LocationDublin Galway Irish Employment 4, Global Employment 315,889130,000142,000 Turnover in Ireland (€ million) 2, Global Revenue ($ billion) Vintage Orginal Irish Activities Manu- facturing Offshore Software Development Software Distribution

28/10/2004CISC Seminar 7 Key Findings I Industry Context Hardware manufacturing gives way to more diversified, global services operations (e.g. IBM) Transformation of multinational IT sector in Ireland accelerated by M&A activity (e.g. Digital – Compaq – HP)

28/10/2004CISC Seminar 8 Key Findings II Corporate Context Complex, multidivisional structures retrievable in Irish affiliates (e.g. IBM) Multitude of corporate and customer linkages connect affiliates to the GPNs Significant degree of decision-making autonomy with hierarchical control not loosing in importance (e.g. EDS)

28/10/2004CISC Seminar 9 Key Findings III Affiliate Context Occurrence of subversive affiliate strategies (e.g. Digital) Cultural interconnectivity aids managers’ contact networks with HQ management (e.g. IBM) Affiliate performance & reputation decisive at any stage of development (e.g. EDS)

28/10/2004CISC Seminar 10 Key Findings IV Host Economy Context Agglomeration economies arising from a highly skilled pool of labour and the presence of the key competitor firms Network externalities of less importance Pro-business attitude of the Irish government supports affiliate development University collaborations play key role in the shift towards knowledge-intensive activities (e.g. HP-DERI; IBM-Centre for Advanced Studies)

28/10/2004CISC Seminar 11 Future Research More empirical evidence needed on the individual trajectories of foreign affiliates Paying attention to the various influences on the global, organisational and local level A case study based, affiliate focused perspective shows most promising for research on GPN and regional futures