Open Access

Matthias Heitz

• This dissertation provides an in-depth research about the intragroup corporate governance manage-ment of automotive financial services subsidiaries. In the following, I will identify the relevant influenc-ing determinates in automotive multinational groups and investigate the relevant corporate govern-ance mechanisms, key topics and appropriate intragroup management instruments to increase trans-parency, intra-organizational alignment and governance conformity. This dissertation applies the Del-phi method, which so far received only little attention within this field of research, to develop a com-prehensive intragroup corporate governance management model that considers both the theoretical and practical experiences to overcome the current research deficits. I will call for a much needed, but so far solely limitedly applied, broad understanding of corporate governance that needs to be sup-plemented with a situational perspective to be effective. This dissertation provides insightsThis dissertation provides an in-depth research about the intragroup corporate governance manage-ment of automotive financial services subsidiaries. In the following, I will identify the relevant influenc-ing determinates in automotive multinational groups and investigate the relevant corporate govern-ance mechanisms, key topics and appropriate intragroup management instruments to increase trans-parency, intra-organizational alignment and governance conformity. This dissertation applies the Del-phi method, which so far received only little attention within this field of research, to develop a com-prehensive intragroup corporate governance management model that considers both the theoretical and practical experiences to overcome the current research deficits. I will call for a much needed, but so far solely limitedly applied, broad understanding of corporate governance that needs to be sup-plemented with a situational perspective to be effective. This dissertation provides insights about the intragroup corporate governance management in regard to growing legal and regulatory pressures and greater public awareness for subsidiary governance around the globe. I will demonstrate that a mixed ‘glocal’ management approach with a combination of centrally and decentrally managed com-ponents as well as cultural, administrative, outsourcing, planning and cybernetic management instru-ments, fits best to handle the heterogeneous, multifaceted subsidiary landscape in an ever-changing and increasingly competitive business environment with varying legal and regulatory frameworks in the respective host countries. This dissertation clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the parent, the subsidiaries, their involved top and middle managers as well as other involved stakeholders. Fur-thermore, it identifies relevant criteria for the selection of appropriate instruments to secure an effec-tive and efficient intragroup corporate governance management and demonstrates in which way it creates value for the multinational group as a whole. The introduced intragroup governance manage-ment model integrates for the first time a comprehensive overview of all relevant intragroup corporate governance topics from a risk based approach in one holistic model and consists out of three parts: (1) management instruments, (2) focus topics and (3) the measurement of their governance maturity to identify governance deficits and variances to prioritize and define appropriate management measures. In addition, the qualitative nature of this research project helps to identify progressive success fac-tors and challenges of the intragroup corporate governance. This dissertation provides a crucial con-tribution for the better understanding of the intragroup governance phenomenon within this compara-tively new subfield of cross-functional corporate governance research. The matter of financial ser-vices subsidiary governance is a global topic with profound implications in many directions. This dissertation helps to shape the dialogue among scholars of different disciplines and provides new ideas on how multinational groups can better serve the needs of their societies. The gained results not only contribute to the discussion of what constitutes good subsidiary governance but also pro-vides a foundation for upcoming discussions among academics, practitioners, regulators and super-visors.…