The Paradox Between Global Efficiency and Local Responsiveness: The Case of French Multinationals Established in China

On the basis of Burns (1963) and many other contributions to the academic literature, mechanisms that support efficiency often lead to reduced flexibility. Bartlett and Goshal (1987, 1989), however, have emphasised how multinational companies (MNCs) have developed new organisational solutions at a regional or a global level to make efficiency and local responsiveness compatible. This chapter investigates how such an attempt translates in China.