The Attention Game: How External Peers Shape Headquarters’ Attention to Subsidiaries

External peers influence a multinational’s (MNE) attention to its subsidiaries. When external peers pay attention to their foreign subsidiaries, this prompts MNEs to pay attention to their own subsidiaries in the same market. As MNEs operate in multiple contexts, the selection of relevant external peers is complicated. Using a cognitive perspective we address the following: Who are the external peers managers monitor? What subsidiaries benefit from external peer attention to their own subsidiaries? When are external peers relied upon? Applying the cognitive perspective, attention occurs independent of subsidiary actions, driven by managers’ cognitive frameworks and in response to external peers.