Assessing the embeddedness of a Japanese-owned factory in the UK: The case of Sony in Wales, 1973 to 2016

In 1973, Sony established a factory in Wales that by the 1990s became Europe’s largest integrated producer of colour televisions. Although manufacturing ceased in 2005, other operations survived and grew. This case examines different perspectives of the complex embeddedness of this subsidiary, proposing two arguments connecting embeddedness to longevity. One concerns external subsidiary linkages, where subsidiary management used their power as a local employer and procurer of components to engage with regional government to secure financial and political support. The other is internal to the multinational organisation, as managers’ subsidiary entrepreneurship enabled the advantages of their external embeddedness to be understood throughout the firm network, to benefit their local operations. These ‘multiple embeddedness’ dynamics were facilitated by Sony’s ‘global localisation’ culture. The case finds that inward investors can make long-term and value-added contributions to regional economies, especially where proactive regional governments can engage with partially decentralised multinational firms.