Beyond Capabilities: How Indian R&D Subsidiaries Use Issue Selling to Shape Power and Innovation Mandates in a MNC

This paper explores how subsidiaries within multinational corporations (MNCs) strategically employ issueselling tactics and micro-political strategies to influence their assigned roles, securing mandate upgrades and strengthening innovation contributions within global R&D ecosystems. Using a qualitative case study of two competing Indian subsidiaries within a German automotive OEM's R&D network, we analyze how subsidiary rivalry, managerial agency, and local subsidiary interactions shape mandate development. Unlike existing research that primarily views HQ as the sole decision-maker in mandate evolution, this study highlights how subsidiary-driven competition and internal issue-selling efforts contribute to power shifts within the corporate network. By integrating Birkinshaw's framework on charter change with issue-selling theory, this study demonstrates how subsidiary managers actively reshape their positioning through entrepreneurial agency, network embeddedness, and strategic lobbying within the MNC.