Factors affecting reverse knowledge transfer from subsidiaries to multinational companies: Focusing on the transference of local market information

Purpose – This paper aims to assess the importance of different knowledge management practices to promote organizational innovation in multinational companies. The links among internationalization, reverse knowledge transfer and social capital and organizational innovation are analyzed. Design/methodology/approach – Structural equation modeling was used to check the research hypotheses with a sample of 104 multinational companies. Findings – The results show that internalization has no direct effect on organizational innovation but a indirect effect trhrough the transfer of knowledge from external subsidiaries to the headquarter. Furthermore, this knowledge and other that comes from internal and external social capital is essential for the development of innovations. Research limitations/implications – Self-reporting by the CEOs may be the most significant limitation, as a single key informant provided the data; multiple informants would enhance the validity of the research findings. A second limitation is the cross-sectional design of the research that does not allow observation of the short- and long-term impact of the relationships among the variables. Practical implications – Organizational innovation is not an easy task. However, those multinational companies which foster knowledge management practices that generate new knowledge from external subsidiaries, internal or external social relationships, will facilitate the generation of innovations. In consequence, these companies should foster the generation of knowledge from different sources. Originality/value – The focus of the study in this paper is on multinational companies and the possibility to acquire knowledge from different sources (inside organization, external local environment and international context). Specially, focus on the transfer of knowledge from subsidiaries to headquarters (reverse knowledge transfer), as it is insufficiently investigated by current literature.

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An Analytic Model of the Factors Affecting Knowledge Transfer in the E-commerce Alliances Based on Overlapping Knowledge

2010 International Conference on E-Business and E-Government ◽

10.1109/icee.2010.916 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Chen Yin ◽

Long Yong ◽

Jiang Shou-cheng

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Transfer ◽

Analytic Model ◽

Factors Affecting

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Identifying key factors affecting transnational knowledge transfer

Information & Management ◽

10.1016/j.im.2010.08.003 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 47 (7-8) ◽

pp. 356-363 ◽

Cited By ~ 44

Author(s):

Yanqing Duan ◽

Wanyan Nie ◽

Elayne Coakes

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Transfer ◽

Key Factors ◽

Factors Affecting

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Micro design in inter-organizational hybrid governance: a study on product adaptation, reverse knowledge transfer and integration mechanism

Journal of Knowledge Management ◽

10.1108/jkm-06-2020-0406 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Novi Lailatul Khoirunnisa ◽

Rangga Almahendra

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Transfer ◽

Open Innovation ◽

Local Conditions ◽

Content Type ◽

Moderation Effect ◽

Hybrid Governance ◽

Integration Mechanism ◽

Reverse Knowledge Transfer ◽

Governing Institutions ◽

The Relationship

Purpose This study aims to explore the extent to which inter-organizational hybrid governance manages the micro design for optimum reverse knowledge transfer in the open innovation context. The authors use two essential facets of micro design in hybrid governance: product adaptation and integration mechanism. Design/methodology/approach Data for this study were collected from franchisees through structured questionnaires in Indonesia. Findings Results indicated that product adaptation has a positive relationship with reverse knowledge transfer. This study also found that the formalization strengthens the relationship between product adaptation and reverse knowledge transfer. However, the socialization does not have a moderation effect. Research limitations/implications This research estimates the knowledge transfer from the agent’s side only. Therefore, further research is expected to estimate the reverse knowledge transfer in dyads (from agent and principal) to get a detailed understanding of reverse knowledge transfer. Practical implications This study offers guidelines to managers, especially in inter-organizational hybrid governance. The authors suggest reverse knowledge transfer as a form to manage the dispersed knowledge from their agents. Governing institutions should change their view that agents have diverse knowledgebase from experience adapting to local conditions and can improve their open innovation through reverse knowledge transfer. From the results, it is found that giving agents the flexibility to adapt products can boost reverse knowledge transfer to support open innovation. Originality/value This study provides an understanding of the utilization of external knowledge sourcing in the context of open innovation from agent to principal in hybrid governance through reverse knowledge transfer, which has thus far been empirically under-researched.

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Cultural distance and inter-organizational knowledge transfer: a case study of a multinational company

Journal of Knowledge Management ◽

10.1108/jkm-06-2020-0439 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Dasun Bhagya Sapuarachchi

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Management ◽

Sri Lanka ◽

Knowledge Transfer ◽

Cultural Distance ◽

Organizational Knowledge ◽

Multinational Companies ◽

Cultural Dimensions ◽

Business World ◽

Content Type ◽

The Usa

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore a phenomenon in knowledge management that has been given scant attention: the influence of cultural distance on inter-organizational knowledge transfer in the context of multinational companies involving headquarters in the USA and a subsidiary in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach Designed as a qualitative exploratory study, data was collected through in-depth interviews of 15 participants and documents review. Findings The findings of this study implied that the theoretically introduced cultural dimensions shall be relevant to analyze the phenomenon of this study. Consequently, through the findings of this study, it is argued that inter-organizational knowledge transfer in multinational companies is influenced by cultural distance. Research limitations/implications This study theoretically and empirically contributes to the debates on knowledge transfer in knowledge management research in general and, inter-organizational knowledge transfer in multinational companies between headquarters and subsidiaries with respect to the influence of cultural distance in particular, through the light of Trompenaars’ (1993) cultural dimensions theory. Practical implications The findings of this study could motivate the practitioners to take into account: the influence of cultural distance on inter-organizational knowledge transfer, if inter-organizational knowledge transfer happens in similar contexts: multinational companies with a headquarters in the USA (a western context) and a subsidiary in Sri Lanka (a non-western context) in the practical business world. Originality/value This study provides theoretical and empirical insights into the influence of cultural distance on inter-organizational knowledge transfer in multinational companies between headquarters and subsidiaries in the selected context while suggesting various avenues for further research toward the influence of cultural distance on such phenomenon in similar/dissimilar contexts.

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