Este trabalho pretende identificar as razões pelas quais as empresas de capital estrangeiro integram suas subsidiárias nas atividades de desenvolvimento de seus produtos globais (DPG). A análise foi realizada a partir de três estudos de caso em montadoras de veículos de passeio que possuem subsidiárias no Brasil; foram pesquisadas as unidades brasileiras e as matrizes dessas empresas. Os resultados apontam que a decisão sobre integrar ou não a engenharia brasileira nas atividades de DPG de uma transnacional relaciona-se à estratégia competitiva da corporação para os diferentes segmentos do mercado em que atua, aos atributos que as subsidiárias apresentam e que são considerados relevantes para a estratégia competitiva, ao relacionamento entre matriz e subsidiárias, que permite que tais atributos sejam reconhecidos e legitimados, e a ações de agentes externos à empresa que, se percebidas como contribuidoras para a estratégia competitiva, podem promover a descentralização das atividades de DPG ou, ao contrário, centralizá-las na matriz. O trabalho mostra também que a forma da divisão internacional do trabalho nas atividades de DPG está relacionada às fases do processo de desenvolvimento de produtos e à adoção de políticas de produto tais como o uso de plataformas e derivativos e o projeto modular.

This thesis aims to identify the reasons why transnational companies integrate their subsidiaries in their global product development (GPD) activities, a "global product" being defined as "a product that is developed once to be produced and commercialized in different countries simultaneously". The analysis has been conducted based on three case studies in car assemblers that have facilities in Brazil: Fiat, Volkswagen and Renault; their Brazilian units have been examined as well as their European headquarters. Literature about the explanations on the adoption of a decentralized GPD process - that is, a process that involves not only the headquarters but also the subsidiaries - affirms that, in general, decentralization occurs aiming to achieve a greater proximity with local markets and/or to search for local technologies which are not present in the headquarters (or the development center). After demonstrating that these reasons, although important ones, are not enough to explain the Brazilian automotive industry's case, some other, complementary rationales are proposed to justify the phenomenon of GPD decentralization towards subsidiaries. As a result, we present an explanatory model that affirms that the decision about whether to integrate or not Brazilian engineering in the GPD activities follows a rationale related to the competitive strategy of the corporation to the different market segments in which it competes; in the segments where products demand much adaptation in order to fit local market's requirements, decentralizing product development may signify lower costs and development time. Integration also depends on the attributes presented by the subsidiaries, as long as these attributes are considered as relevant ones to the firm's competitive strategy: the subsidiary's engineering experience, the subsidiary's market sensitiveness, the importance of market and the subsidiary's volume of production are the main attributes observed in this research. The decentralisation of engineering activities also depends on the relationship between the headquarters and the subsidiaries - which allows the attributes to be recognized and legitimized - and on the actions of external agents (as host and home governments, trade unions, universities and research centers), that may promote decentralization of GPD activities if they are perceived as contributing to the firms' competitive strategy. Finally, the way labor is internationally divided in the GPD activities is related to the phases of the product development process and to the adoption of some product policies such as the usage of platforms and derivatives and the modular design, this one with a weaker influence.