International Transfer Of Knowledge In Multinational Enterprises The Role Of International Human Resource Management In Transferring Tacit Knowledge Across Borders

Diploma Thesis from the year 2001 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1.0 (A), European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) (FB BWL), language: English, abstract: In the world of today, business is no longer limited by national boundaries. The majority of the world’s large corporations perform a significant portion of their activities outside their home countries. The rapidly emerging global economy creates numerous opportunities for businesses to expand their revenues, drive down their costs and boost their profits. At the same time, markets have become fierce battlegrounds where firms have to fight aggressively for market share with domestic and foreign competitors. It is commonly accepted that one of the primary sources for competitive advantage of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in this globalized business environment is their ability to transfer superior knowledge at the international level1 and to create a “learning organization”2. To succeed, or at least survive, in the global market-place, organizations need to adapt quickly to the changing environment and must commit themselves to permanent learning. This paper presents a general overview of the process of international knowledge transfer within multinational enterprises. It deals with the problems of organizational knowledge creation and sharing. A particular emphasis is placed on the implications for international human resource management practices in managing the international transfer of employees, since global assignments are recognized hierin as the most important mechanism of transferring tacit knowledge3 across borders. As the sharing of easily codifiable knowledge is relatively easy to manage, the means of transferring it are not focused on in this study. [...] 1 See, for instance, Kogut, B. and Zander, U. (1992): „Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology“, Organizational Science, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 383-397; Kogut, B. and Zander, U. (1993): „Knowledge of the Firm and the Evolutionary Theory of the Multinational Corporation“, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 24, pp. 625-645; Björkman, I. and Forsgren, M. (1997): „The Nature of the International Firm. Nordic Contributions to International Business Research“, Handelshojskolens Forlag, p. 71. 2 See, for instance, Garvin, D.A. (1993): „Building a Learning Organization“, Harvard Business Review, July/August, pp. 78-91. For definition of the learning organization see p. 23. 3 For definition of the tacit knowledge see p. 22.

International Human Resource Management offers a contemporary and multilayered introduction to international and comparative human resource management for university study. It critically analyses the core issues and emerging trends in the field, with a consistent emphasis on real-world scenarios and concerns. At the macro level, the book examines how IHRM fits within and adapts to the ever-changing environment of international relations and global development. At the firm level, it elucidates the strategic goals served by IHRM, and the processes used to achieve them. At the individual level, the analysis extends beyond the traditional focus on expatriates to encompass the various IHRM actors and their motivations. Each chapter features a case study, a media article, tutorial activities, discussion questions and links to further reading. The book concludes with three extended case studies, each based on a specific region, to help students consolidate their understanding.

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2011 in the subject Leadership and Human Resources - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,7, University of Tubingen, language: English, abstract: The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze different theoretical approaches of research about knowledge and multinational teams to determine, whether multinational teams can be a way of transferring knowledge in a multinational corporation. According to the research that has already been conducted in this field, multinational teams can indeed be one way of transferring knowledge between dispersed multinational units in order to leverage its competitive advantage of sharing knowledge. This is mostly done by means of interaction between different team members who share knowledge in continuously communicating and working together, therefore benefiting from explicit and tacit knowledge of team members. Teams can create synergetic effects and not only share knowledge within a team, but also create new knowledge. This dissertation recognizes multinational teams as a suitable way of transferring knowledge. However, due to reasons of language barriers, lack of motivation and costs, a multinational team should not be used as the only means of transferring knowledge through multinational organizations.

Globalisation makes our world appear smaller: it is easier to connect, communicate and do business with people all over the world. But cultural differences remain and challenge globalized knowledge communication and transfer. This book examines cross-cultural management within multinational enterprises (MNEs), focusing in particular on how cultural differences influence the transfer of knowledge between different units within individual corporations. Based on detailed empirical analysis of 267 companies in Germany and Japan, it considers the relative effectiveness of inter-cultural and intra-cultural knowledge transfer; identifies the factors that inhibit or facilitate successful knowledge transfer; and suggests how management processes of MNEs can be improved. It demonstrates that although cultural differences do not necessarily influence the selection and transmission of knowledge overseas, they do have a strong impact on how that knowledge is received, integrated and put into practice locally. The book shows how knowledge is accepted differently in Europe and Asia and which factors have the strongest impact on efficient knowledge transfer. It suggests that to improve cross-cultural management MNEs should focus less on upgrading the technology that allows knowledge transfer, and more on the capabilities and beliefs of individual employees.

This book shifts the debate on knowledge transfers within multinational corporations (MNCs) back to its core: How can we increase the effectiveness of cross-boarder transfers of knowledge? Several perspectives on international knowledge flows, from control issues to cultural barriers, are integrated into a comprehensive framework. Based on a sample of leading MNCs, empirical results show which managerial mechanisms have to be implemented to increase the benefit from knowledge transfers in headquarters and subsidiaries.

Tayeb (management and languages, Heriot-Watt U.) enters the debate about internationalization and globalization by proposing two dynamic models of human resource management (HRM) internationalization and international HRM in multinational corporations. She summarizes key debates in HRM and discusses the applicability of various HRM models in differ

Multinational Companies (MNCs) increasingly play an important role in transferring knowledge worldwide. For MNCs, the topic of knowledge transfer has been studied in different ways. While economists have mainly studied the effects of knowledge transfer on firms' performance, management scholars have rather shed light on the processes of transferring knowledge as well as more strategic aspects for MNCs. The objective of this book is to create bridges between economic sciences and management sciences, by highlighting the contributions and methodologies related to each of these disciplines.

The objective of this special issue is to contribute to the understanding of Knowledge Governance in the Mulitnational Corporation. Like the traditional literature on corporate governance the authors are concerned with the attraction of crucial capital, its efficient allocation, as well as the mechanism used to achieve capital accumulation and optimal utilization. Knowledge as a particular sort of capital is seen as increasingly crucial to the existence, boundaries, and economic organization of modern Multinational Corporation.

Current corporate structures based on internationalisation and decentralisation are opposed to the nature of the most important resource: knowledge. The acquisition and exchange of (tacit) knowledge relies on interpersonal interactions and is thus time- and place-dependent. Given that the combination of heterogeneous knowledge stocks furthers innovation, organisations develop strategies to ensure the transfer of knowledge. To enable intra-organisational knowledge flows spatial mobility at the workplace affects a wide range of employees. The study examines in which ways spatially mobile employees, i.e. expatriates, contribute to those knowledge flows. The study of ego networks reveals not only social dynamics of knowledge transfer, but the geographical framework allows to discuss knowledge flows from a spatial perspective. On the one hand, the empirical results confirm their knowledge transfer function. On the other hand, the relational geographical perspective reveals that expatriates do not represent a homogeneous group, but their roles in the knowledge transfer process, the geographical reach of their networks and their knowledge resources depend on job-, knowledge-, individual- and space-related factors.

effective knowledge transfer will not come about automatically but requires appropriate and concerted managerial action. This is especially tme in multina tional organizations created though mergers and acquisitions. In such organiza tions, individual subunits are not only subjected to the isomorphic pulls of their respective local environments (Westney 1993) but are often characterized also by different organizational cultures, administrative heritage and work practices. As a long stream of research on mergers and acquisition testifies, achieving syner gies through knowledge sharing in such circumstances is associated with formid able obstac1es. The theoretical basis of much current literature on knowledge and knowledge transfer can be traced from Nelson and Winter's (1982) seminal work, over Win ter's (1987) conjecture regarding the trade-offs between tacitness and codifica tion of knowledge to a celebrated series of artic1es by Kogut and Zander (1992, 1993, 1996). It conceptualizes the multinational firm as a social community that specializes in the creation and transfer of knowledge. 'Higher order organiza tional routines' and the 'identifications' of their employees place firms in the privileged position to be able to intemally transfer knowledge, especially in its more 'tacit' varieties, more rapidly and cheaply than this can be accomplished through third-party licensing or through involuntary imitation. In this approach, the existence of firms is explained without invocation of 'opportunism' or other transaction cost considerations - a fact that has no doubt contributed to its wide spread appeal.