Once treated as almost synonymous with the place where strategies are made, corporate headquarters and the multi-divisional firms they steer, have given way to other research phenomena. With this special conference we want to redirect scholarly attention on the “elephant in the room.” Large, multi-divisional corporations form the backbone of well over half of the global economic output. Their attractiveness is not only confined to the US and Europe, but also developing economies are increasingly embracing them. With this special conference we want to summarize and advance our knowledge on these large firms and their corporate management.