How does successive inpatriation contribute to subsidiary capability building and subsidiary evolution? An organizational knowledge creation perspective

Intra-company knowledge transfer is a key source of competitive advantage for multinational companies (MNCs) and this knowledge is usually embedded in individuals. Drawing on organizational knowledge creation theory, we explore how inpatriation contributes to knowledge transfer and, in turn, subsidiary performance. Inpatriation involves the international assignment of employees from an MNC’s foreign subsidiary to its headquarters. Despite increasing attention to the role of inpatriation, we lack a clear understanding of whether and how inpatriates provide value to their subsidiaries after returning from headquarters. Through a qualitative case study of Japanese MNCs, we demonstrate the process through which inpatriates’ knowledge transfer contributes to subsidiary capability building and subsidiary evolution over time, and explain why successive inpatriation is thus critical to enhance subsidiary performance. Our theoretical model highlights the value of inpatriates as knowledge agents, reveals the process through which inpatriates transfer knowledge between HQ and subsidiaries, and provides a more nuanced understanding of the micro-foundations of intra-MNC knowledge transfer processes. Based on these findings, we argue that inpatriation is not merely a staffing method that is complementary to expatriation, but a key practice in its own right to support subsidiaries’ growth and performance.

Knowledge creation and external consultants during ERP implementation: an interpretive study

PurposePrevious research has investigated knowledge transfer and the external consultant's role in it, during enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation. In this study, the authors explore the processes through which knowledge creation happens during ERP implementation and how external consultants help operationalize the same.Design/methodology/approachThe authors engaged the SECI model of the theory of organizational knowledge creation and conducted an interpretive study that interviewed 14 ERP implementation experts in India. The interviews were transcribed and then analyzed using the ATLAS.ti package.FindingsThe findings reveal fine insights into how knowledge creation takes place during ERP implementation through the four modes of knowledge conversion – socialization (S), externalization (E), combination (C) and internalization (I). The external consultants aid in operationalizing this knowledge creation process through five types of knowledge-related activities: (I) importing external knowledge, (D) discovering internal knowledge, (E) extricating confined knowledge, (A) activating flows of knowledge and (S) solving problems using knowledge. These activities can be represented by the acronym, I-D-E-A-S.Originality/valueThe study makes two overarching contributions: (1) offering an interpretation and description of ERP implementation as a knowledge creation process and (2) extending the understanding of the external consultants' role during ERP implementation to include new knowledge creation.

The Project Manager as the Driver of Organizational Knowledge Creation

The areas Project Management and Knowledge Management include studies on the project and project team levels, but a specific focus on the role of the Project Manager in managing knowledge within the team has received less focus. The authors show how knowledge is created within the project team environment, and the specific role of the Project Manager as an individual uniquely situated to drive the creation of knowledge in the environment by facilitating, directing, and controlling team activities through the four SECI model phases. Using a single case study approach, this research shows how the PM acts as a “mixing valve” in the flow of knowledge in a dynamic, multi-directional, process within the project team environment.

Understand the Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation

After the Wars, it was necessary the companies reinvented their process and for this to create a new perspective including products and services. In 1986, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi received a challenge to describe product development in Japan companies. The result was “The new new product development game”. After that, Nonaka and Takeuchi wrote about their observations in this process and published many articles, presenting in 1994 the Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation. In this context, the aim of this study is to review the Nonaka and Takeuchi documents, building a timeline and understand the concepts and the future for the Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation. Firstly, we search the articles from Nonaka in the Scopus database. Secondly, we started reading the article “Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation” published in 1994 for Nonaka. Based on their references we returned for the search results and read the articles. Next, we read the articles published after 1994 and comprehending their link with the Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation. Although the Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation is recognized and diffused in the academy and in the organizations that study or implant the Knowledge Management, it is noticed that few authors deepen the knowledge to understand the fundamentals of the theory or, of fundamental reasoning. It is evident the concern of Nonaka and his co-authors to seek facilitators for the modes of knowledge conversion, to facilitate the practical application of the modes of knowledge conversion.