Industrial districts, multinational corporations, and their local/global paradoxes

Abstract

Over the past fifteen years, several studies have used the organizational theory of paradoxes to understand some typical organizational tensions, including that between global and local dimensions typically faced by multinational corporations. These studies analyze paradoxical tensions at the organizational or even intra-organizational level, while the paradox lens has not yet been applied to study systems such as industrial districts. This paper attempts to do so by analyzing and comparing the local/global paradox in multinational corporations and industrial districts. For the latter, the analysis rests on some empirical studies conducted on Italian districts. Moreover, as the presence of multinationals in these districts has become stronger in the recent phase, an attempt has been made to understand if and how this phenomenon impacts the local/global tension at the district level.