Standortkriterien zur nachhaltigen Ansiedlung von regionalen Headquartern

The "war for new locations" has gained wide attention. Mostly overlooked is however the question whether these establishments operate sustainably and are sustainable in the sense of a long-term existence. Furthermore, most of the literature seems to define the corporation as a black-box. But concentrating on the long-term effects requires a closer look at the internal side of the company. A sustainable location policy depends on a long-term internationalisation strategy of and organisational set-up within the multinational organisation. Internationalisation of companies now entering Europe are connected to strategic assets and knowledge seeking strategies. The regional or local unit’s chances to exist in the long run depends on the distribution of internal control and responsibilities. Both the effects of internationalisation strategy and configuration are ultimately connected to the (power of) respective managers and units. Thus, the contributions of micro-political actions and power games on the location’s stability are discussed. This article argues that hard-fact location incentives will attract the settlement of new (regional) headquarters in the short-term, but will not be sufficient to maintain a branch. Consequently, soft location factors are becoming increasingly important when choosing a location policy. The final considerations are devoted to answer the question from inside of the corporation: What can help a regional policy to boost sustainable locations? The recommendations include: record organisational history; carefully select whom to attract; staying attractive with always new offers; raise sunk costs; and use of micro-politics and networks.