scholarly journals Subsidiary power, cultural intelligence and interpersonal knowledge transfer between subsidiaries within the multinational enterprise

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 100859
Author(s):  
Himadree Phookan ◽  
Revti Raman Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Cultural Intelligence ◽  
Multinational Enterprise

scholarly journals Expatriates Coaching Behaviors and Local Employees Work Performance: Mediating Role of Cross - Cultural Knowledge Transfer

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (9) ◽  
pp. 858-870
Author(s):  
Windy Lau Edwin Pasadame
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Cultural Intelligence ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Coaching Behavior ◽  
Moderating Role

This study investigates How the coaching behavior of Chinese expatriates and the performance of local employees overcomes the inherent differences between them and develops the quality of relationships that play an important role in carrying out cross-cultural knowledge transfer? Existing research does not provide a good answer to this question. The knowledge transfer literature has focused on organizational vehicles and structural mechanisms, with little attention paid to understanding how the organizational processes and individuals involved can facilitate knowledge transfer. After all, it is people who have applied and transferred knowledge. This study aims to propose and analyze a model for developing expatriate coaching behavior through cross-cultural knowledge transfer in improving the work performance of local employees, to examine the moderating role of intelligence culture for expatriate coaching behavior on the relationship of cross-cultural knowledge transfer to local employee performance on expatriates and employees. This study will examine the moderating role of Perceived Organizational Support theorists have suggested that employees form global perceptions of the level of support provided by their employers and that this perception influences their behavior in the workplace. The data collection method used is a qualitative method. Based on the results of research and discussion, it can be concluded that China expatriates with high cultural intelligence, their coaching behavior has a clearer positive impact on the performance of local employees; for local employees who have high cultural intelligence, expatriate coaching behavior has a clearer positive impact on the employee's performance.

scholarly journals Interpersonal cross border knowledge transfer within the multinational enterprise: Subsidiary power, intra-MNE competition and cultural intelligence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Himadree Phookan
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Cultural Intelligence ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Knowledge Transfers ◽  
Knowledge Seeking ◽  
The Impact

<p>Cross border knowledge transfer is not only a major activity of multi-national enterprises (MNEs), but also the very reason for their existence. Most of the literature has investigated cross-border knowledge transfer at the firm level - with the headquarters or the subsidiaries as the actors. However, the action of knowledge transfer occurs between people within organizations but not between amorphous organizations. To account for the heterogeneous, independent individual behaviour, which may not always align with organizational objectives, I investigate interpersonal cross-border knowledge transfers (knowledge seeking and sharing) between subsidiaries in an MNE.  Based on the Social Identity Theory (SIT) insights, my proposed conceptual model hypothesised the impact of subsidiary power on interpersonal knowledge seeking and sharing being mediated by organisational identity of the individuals. It also includes two boundary conditions, intra-MNE competition and cultural intelligence, due to which knowledge transfer outcomes are likely to vary. The proposed conceptual model is tested using a questionnaire survey data from 333 employees from 40 R&D subsidiaries of foreign MNEs in India. Before analysing the data with Conditional Process Analysis using the PROCESS macro within SPSS, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted with the help of AMOS.  The findings suggest that subsidiary power has a significant direct effect on knowledge sharing and an indirect effect on knowledge seeking. The results show that when it comes to seeking knowledge from another subsidiary, subsidiary power influences employees’ seeking behaviour due to the organizational identification of employees. Whereas, although the decision to share knowledge is influenced by subsidiary power, it is due to factors other than identification. Further, cultural intelligence is found to moderate the indirect effect on knowledge seeking and intra-MNE competition moderates the indirect effect on knowledge sharing.  My study makes three key contributions. Firstly, I bring in SIT insights to the knowledge governance approach (KGA). I have argued and proposed identity based KGA mechanisms such as subsidiary power and intra-MNE competition which influence individual level knowledge transfer. Such mechanisms (although not governance mechanisms per se) can be used by the subsidiary to govern individual knowledge exchanges across the border. Secondly, I contribute by examining two boundary conditions for the subsidiary power and interpersonal knowledge transfer relationships. This explains under what conditions the effect of subsidiary power is strengthened or weakened. Finally, by conducting the study in the context of India, which is fast emerging as a R&D hub for MNEs from different countries, the study provides insights to employees’ knowledge exchange behaviour which is crucial for knowledge transfers within the MNEs and for their success.</p>

Multilateral knowledge transfer and multiple embeddedness

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen-Chen Ho
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Organizational Design ◽  
Multinational Enterprise ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
External Embeddedness ◽  
Subsidiary Evolution

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to argue that multilateral knowledge transfer emerges from two lines of thinking in the international business (IB) literature – the exploitation of multinationality and the contributory role of subsidiaries – and links three levels of analysis – headquarters, knowledge-creating subsidiaries and host-country environments. Design/methodology/approach – Multilateral knowledge transfer, both vertical and horizontal, is considered in this paper as a cross-level phenomenon that emerges as a result of beneficial interdependencies between headquarters, knowledge-creating subsidiaries and their host-country environments. The paper also discusses the concept of embeddedness, which both lines of thinking draw upon, and argues that the multinational enterprise (MNE) headquarters can actually moderate both internal and external embeddedness through global strategy and organizational design. Findings – By putting forward an integrative cross-level interdependency framework that incorporates insights from the R&D internationalization literature and the subsidiary evolution literature, this paper delineates multilateral knowledge transfer as an MNE strategy to systematically transform and integrate knowledge created at the subsidiary-level for the global competitive advantage at the MNE group-level. Originality/value – Such a perspective reemphasizes the multi-level nature of IB studies and provides new opportunities for theoretical and empirical development as did the internalization theory which has theorized the conventional headquarters-to-subsidiaries knowledge transfer more than 40 years ago.

scholarly journals The role of geographical distance on the relationship between cultural intelligence and knowledge transfer

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davor Vlajcic ◽  
Giacomo Marzi ◽  
Andrea Caputo ◽  
Marina Dabic
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Transfer Process ◽  
Cultural Intelligence ◽  
Multinational Companies ◽  
Partial Least Square ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Geographical Distance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways in which the geographical distance between headquarters and subsidiaries moderates the relationship between cultural intelligence and the knowledge transfer process.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 103 senior expatriate managers working in Croatia from several European and non-European countries was used to test the hypotheses. Data were collected using questionnaires, while the methodology employed to test the relationship between the variables was partial least square. Furthermore, interaction-moderation effect was utilized to test the impact of geographical distance and, for testing control variables, partial least square multigroup analysis was used.FindingsCultural intelligence plays a significant role in the knowledge transfer process performance. However, geographical distance has the power to moderate this relationship based on the direction of knowledge transfer. In conventional knowledge transfer, geographical distance has no significant impact. On the contrary, data have shown that, in reverse knowledge transfer, geographical distance has a moderately relevant effect. The authors supposed that these findings could be connected to the specific location of the knowledge produced by subsidiaries.Practical implicationsMultinational companies should take into consideration that the further away a subsidiary is from the headquarters, and the varying difference between cultures, cannot be completely mitigated by the ability of the manager to deal with cultural differences, namely cultural intelligence. Thus, multinational companies need to allocate resources to facilitate the knowledge transfer between subsidiaries.Originality/valueThe present study stresses the importance of cultural intelligence in the knowledge transfer process, opening up a new stream of research inside these two areas of research.

Alternative control methods for exploiting subsidiary knowledge within an MNE: quantity versus quality

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 1184-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roslyn Larkin
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Multinational Enterprise ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Control Methods ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Alternative Control ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Alternative Control Methods

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to expose the power of informal control mechanisms over explicit knowledge transfer through information communication technology (ICT) systems in subsidiaries of a multinational enterprise (MNE). Design/methodology/approach – The research used a case study approach consistent with the purpose of exploring control/knowledge transfer relationships. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with managers across 19 sites in an MNE. Analysed data were thematically organised into two case studies for comparison. Findings – The results show that when control is exerted from bottom-up, knowledge transfer barriers are overcome, quality of outcomes is increased and new and incremental knowledge innovation is more likely to become organisational. Practical implications – The findings signal a caution for managers to assess the suitability of control type on knowledge transfer incentives to leverage quality knowledge outcomes. By using informal methods, subsidiary managers’ local autonomy and power to resist centralised management objectives was positively moderated. Originality/value – The paper exposes alternative control methods for exploiting subsidiary knowledge within an MNE. The research is unique in that it identifies a superior role for bottom-up social control to elicit explicit knowledge sharing behaviours through ICT where bureaucratic reward-based control had failed.

scholarly journals Predictors of knowledge transfer between expatriates and host country nationals

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-215
Author(s):  
Nurul Afiqah Zulkifly ◽  
Maimunah Ismail ◽  
Siti Raba’ah Hamzah
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Cultural Intelligence ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Feedback Seeking ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Host Country Nationals ◽  
Seeking Behavior

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influences of cultural intelligence, feedback-seeking behavior and shared vision as a mediator on bi-directional knowledge transfer involving expatriates and host country nationals (HCNs). Design/methodology/approach This paper integrates the signaling theory, the social capital theory and the anxiety and uncertainty theory in investigating the relationships between predictors and knowledge transfer in a bi-directional manner. The participants of the study were 125 expatriate-HCN pairs of MNCs and local organizations in the areas of Klang Valley, Malaysia. Findings Shared vision was found to significantly mediate the influences of cultural intelligence and feedback-seeking behavior on knowledge transfer as perceived by the respective respondents. Originality/value Co-existence between expatriates and HCNs leads to many organizational outcomes including knowledge transfer. This paper additionally provides theoretical and practical implications to human resource practices.

scholarly journals Interpersonal cross border knowledge transfer within the multinational enterprise: Subsidiary power, intra-MNE competition and cultural intelligence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Himadree Phookan
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Cultural Intelligence ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Knowledge Transfers ◽  
Knowledge Seeking ◽  
The Impact

<p>Cross border knowledge transfer is not only a major activity of multi-national enterprises (MNEs), but also the very reason for their existence. Most of the literature has investigated cross-border knowledge transfer at the firm level - with the headquarters or the subsidiaries as the actors. However, the action of knowledge transfer occurs between people within organizations but not between amorphous organizations. To account for the heterogeneous, independent individual behaviour, which may not always align with organizational objectives, I investigate interpersonal cross-border knowledge transfers (knowledge seeking and sharing) between subsidiaries in an MNE.  Based on the Social Identity Theory (SIT) insights, my proposed conceptual model hypothesised the impact of subsidiary power on interpersonal knowledge seeking and sharing being mediated by organisational identity of the individuals. It also includes two boundary conditions, intra-MNE competition and cultural intelligence, due to which knowledge transfer outcomes are likely to vary. The proposed conceptual model is tested using a questionnaire survey data from 333 employees from 40 R&D subsidiaries of foreign MNEs in India. Before analysing the data with Conditional Process Analysis using the PROCESS macro within SPSS, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted with the help of AMOS.  The findings suggest that subsidiary power has a significant direct effect on knowledge sharing and an indirect effect on knowledge seeking. The results show that when it comes to seeking knowledge from another subsidiary, subsidiary power influences employees’ seeking behaviour due to the organizational identification of employees. Whereas, although the decision to share knowledge is influenced by subsidiary power, it is due to factors other than identification. Further, cultural intelligence is found to moderate the indirect effect on knowledge seeking and intra-MNE competition moderates the indirect effect on knowledge sharing.  My study makes three key contributions. Firstly, I bring in SIT insights to the knowledge governance approach (KGA). I have argued and proposed identity based KGA mechanisms such as subsidiary power and intra-MNE competition which influence individual level knowledge transfer. Such mechanisms (although not governance mechanisms per se) can be used by the subsidiary to govern individual knowledge exchanges across the border. Secondly, I contribute by examining two boundary conditions for the subsidiary power and interpersonal knowledge transfer relationships. This explains under what conditions the effect of subsidiary power is strengthened or weakened. Finally, by conducting the study in the context of India, which is fast emerging as a R&D hub for MNEs from different countries, the study provides insights to employees’ knowledge exchange behaviour which is crucial for knowledge transfers within the MNEs and for their success.</p>

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