The HQ Advantage: Physical Proximity, Knowledge Sharing, and Crisis Response in a Cenralized MNE : A qualitative study on knowledge-sharing and crisis response within a centralized multinational enterprise

Sammanfattning

Contemporary geopolitical volatility has fundamentally changed the terms regarding multinational enterprises’ crisis management and internal knowledge-sharing. As geopolitical volatility intensifies, the internal knowledge processes of firms have become a crucial source of competitive advantage and resilience. The purpose of this study is to examine how knowledge is shared within a centralized multinational enterprise in the context of geopolitical crises. The study has a specific focus on the formaland informal mechanisms used by Regional Managers, as well as how organizational structure and spatial proximity influence crisis response. The study adopts a qualitative single-case study design with an abductive research approach. Empirical data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with three Regional Sales Managers and the Chief Executive Officer of Norden Machinery AB, a highly centralized manufacturing firm with headquarters in Kalmar, Sweden. The findings demonstrate that knowledge-sharing in this context is primarily relational rather than structural. It is driven by physical proximity, informal communication, and a high-trust organizational culture. The study introduces the concept of the Kalmar Bubble, extending the psychic distance paradox into an intra-organizational context. The centralized headquarters does not function as a bureaucratic bottleneck, but as what this study terms The Kalmar Engine. This proximity-driven mechanism transforms co-location into organizational agility and crisis response capability. Finally, the study reveals a normalization of geopolitical volatility, where long-term crisis exposure produces stable and consistent knowledge-sharing processes regardless of external turbulence. This study contributes to the fields of international business and knowledge management by offering empirically grounded frameworks for understanding how centralized multinational enterprises leverage physical co-location as a strategic asset in volatile environments.