Knowledge creation capability in MNC subsidiaries: Examining the roles of global and local knowledge inflows and subsidiary knowledge stocks

Grounded in knowledge-based theories of the multinational corporation (MNC) and building on organizational learning literature, this paper develops and tests a model of MNC subsidiaries’ knowledge creation capability as a joint function of knowledge inflows to subsidiaries and their knowledge stocks (i.e., subsidiaries’ internal human, social, and organizational capital). Survey-based data from 106 subsidiaries located in the U.S. suggests that local (i.e., host country) knowledge inflows to a subsidiary are more effective in enhancing a subsidiary's knowledge creation capability compared to global knowledge inflows from other units of the same MNC. Furthermore, results point to a not-invented-here syndrome in the exploitation of knowledge sourced from the parent company; such that when a subsidiary's internal social capital is high, the relationship between global knowledge inflows and knowledge creation capability is negative and when it is low, the relationship becomes positive.     

渠道关系中社会资本对战略绩效的作用路径研究

目前社会资本在促进渠道成员的合作中扮演了重要作用，但有关社会资本对企业绩效之间的作用机制还需要做进一步探究。针对这一现象，文章基于渠道关系视角，探讨了结构社会资本和关系社会资本对战略绩效的作用路径。基于393家中国计算机及其零件行业的企业数据，引入知识冗余和共同解决问题两个中间变量，建立了社会资本、共同解决问题、知识冗余和战略绩效间的关系模型，实证研究结果发现：结构社会资本和关系社会资本会通过促进知识冗余和共同解决问题进而提升战略绩效。研究结论拓展了渠道关系管理、社会资本领域的研究，并对企业实践具有指导意义。     

Managing global knowledge transfer: Inpatriate manager embeddedness and firm innovation

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of tacit knowledge transfer in a particular type of global manager - the inpatriate manager who is typically relocated from the MNC’s subsidiary to headquarter. To do so, we draw on social embeddedness theory. Our paper suggests that if an inpatriate manager becomes embedded within the MNCs headquarter, tacit knowledge transfer will occur resulting in innovative practices and a global mindset within the MNCs headquarters. This study takes the unique approach of studying the barriers that inpatriate managers face in the transfer of tacit knowledge and highlights the role of human resources in facilitating the transfer of knowledge across the MNC. The paper articulates the implications for policy and practice and a future research agenda.     

International purchasing offices in China: A dynamic evolution model

The salience of the international purchasing office (IPO) in the management of international sourcing activities of multinational corporations (MNCs) has steadily increased, in developed and emerging economies, since the first adoption of this supply chain strategy in the 1980s. The aim of this paper is to develop an activity/role-based evolution model for IPOs, employing multiple case studies: 14 MNCs’ IPOs in China, studied by British, Italian, and Chinese scholars. Applying role theory in a global purchasing context, we identify eight routine roles and four strategic roles played by IPOs and propose that IPOs could lead an MNC's global sourcing in a geographical region. We challenge the unilinear and sequential nature of existing global sourcing process models and propose a dynamic evolution model, consisting of five stages differentiated by number, depth, and breadth of roles, in which IPOs could leapfrog some stages, re-trench (move back to lower stages) and be potentially withdrawn. Finally, we conclude that the stage of an IPO is determined by the strategic importance of China to its parent company.     

Integrating global mobility and global talent management: Exploring the challenges and strategic opportunities

Although global mobility represents an important element of many multinational enterprise's (MNEs) global talent management systems, the two areas of practice have largely been decoupled in research and practice. The current paper aims to build a dialog around the integration of these two important areas of practice and illustrate how the integration of global mobility and global talent management can contribute to the success of the MNE. Human capital and social capital theories are introduced as theoretical frames for the integration of the two areas and global talent pools and routines for managing global staffing flows are introduced as key organizational routines that can maximize the contribution of global mobility to the MNE. The paper also considers challenges and opportunities for the integration of mobility and talent and outlines some directions for future study.     

Goals,Conflict, Politics,and Performance of Cross-Functional Sourcing Teams—Results from a Social Team Experiment

Strategic sourcing is carried out in cross-functional teams to account for the complexity and multidimensionality of modern procurement decisions. However, such teams not only enable the integration of distinct interdependent skill sets and viewpoints, they are also characterized by functional goal misalignment. We focus on the resulting behavioral challenges, namely conflict and politics, and their effects on team satisfaction and rationality, which ultimately leads to observed outcomes. We test our hypotheses in a structural equation model based on data gathered from 468 participants in a social team experiment. We find a mediated effect of goal misalignment on political behavior via two types of team conflict. Political behavior, in turn, obstructs rational team sourcing decisions and reduces team members’ satisfaction with the process. Our study indicates that behavioral challenges in the framework of Organizational Buying Behavior not only co-occur but affect each other via mediation. Hence, managers need to closely monitor the escalation chains’ origin, task conflict, which constitutes a necessary condition for further emotional dissent and political biasing. We contribute to the understanding of the challenges in cross-functional sourcing teams, thereby providing advice to executives in their pursuit to rationalize and improve sourcing team decisions and their outcomes.     

Concurrent sourcing strategy of multinational firms in China: Drivers and performance implications

Concurrent sourcing is critical to multinational firms’ operations in emerging economies, such as China. Despite its prominence, research is lacking on the underlying conditions and performance implications of this strategy. We investigate the driving factors of multinational firms’ concurrent sourcing strategy and test whether concurrent sourcing outperforms other types of sourcing strategies. Our empirical findings suggest that multinational firms tend to choose concurrent sourcing under high levels of institutional regulations. Furthermore, the results show that concurrent sourcing generates better performance at high levels of uncertainties and the performance deficiency of concurrent sourcing can be mitigated when institutional regulations are high.     

Stakeholder pressures,EMS implementation,and green innovation in MNC overseas subsidiaries

In this paper, we address the issue of green innovation by the overseas subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs). Drawing upon stakeholder theory and institutional theory, we propose a conceptual model to explain how stakeholder pressures in host countries prompt MNC subsidiaries to undertake green product and process innovations. Our findings indicate that MNC subsidiaries need to meet market stakeholders’ pressures in order to achieve social legitimacy in host countries, and that the implementation of formal environmental management systems (EMS) is an important mechanism translating these pressures into green innovation initiatives. Furthermore, we find that the positive relationship between market stakeholder pressures and EMS implementation is reinforced by global ‘green’ institutional pressures in the different host countries.     

Global sourcing,productivity and export intensity

This paper investigates the effect of global sourcing on firm performances by using data on Danish manufacturing firms during the period 1995–2006. The results show that firms with better ex-ante characteristics are more inclined to source intermediate inputs from abroad. The results also show that firms that source from different locations possess different ex-ante characteristics; the most productive source inputs from high-wage countries while capital stock and being an exporter are more important factors when sourcing from low-wage countries. Moreover, controlling for the endogeneity of both the sourcing decision and location by using instrument variable and DiD matching approach, the results seem also to suggest that firms that source inputs from high-wage countries benefited from doing so in terms of higher growth of productivity and export intensity. Firms that source inputs from low-wage countries, on the other hand, seem not to have experienced any significant impact on neither productivity nor export, not even three years after they started to source inputs from these countries.     

From Supply Chains to Supply Ecosystems: Implications for Strategic Sourcing Research and Practice

Traditionally, sourcing decisions such as what to buy and from whom to buy it were viewed as clerical in nature. Today, however, many executives view sourcing decisions as strategic and these decisions are being made from more prominent positions within firms. Indeed, over time more companies are embracing the concept of strategic sourcing—making acquisition decisions with the intent of creating value and achieving a competitive advantage. In this article, we introduce the Special Topic Forum articles on strategic sourcing and performance. Each offers important implications for strategic sourcing research and practice. An overall implication is that some traditional supply chains appear to be giving way to supply ecosystems, which represent a set of interdependent and coordinated organizations that share common adaptive challenges and that collectively shape the creation and nurturing of a sourcing base that contributes to competitive advantage and superior performance. We offer several theoretical perspectives that hold promise for explaining supply ecosystem functioning and outcomes. In terms of practice, firms need to adapt their strategic sourcing to this evolution or run the risk of being weakened.     

Co-evolution of global sourcing: The need to understand the underlying mechanisms of firm-decisions to offshore

In this introductory paper, we first discuss the emergence of global sourcing of business services and how these have been largely ignored in the IB field. Offshoring of business services has reached substantial proportions. Despite the radical growth, IB research on global sourcing is still in its infancy. Offshoring of business services represents a new type of internationalization. The offshoring of high-value services confronts companies with many of the challenges that are typical of an internationalization process in which well-known models and concepts of internationalization are applicable but also leave important unanswered questions requiring reconsideration and revision of these theoretical positions. Offshoring of business services is fundamentally different from outsourcing offshore of manufacturing activities. Using data from the Offshore Research Network (ORN), we track patterns of the emergence and diffusion of global sourcing of business services. On the basis of these new insights, we make a plea for a more encompassing, co-evolutionary perspective of global sourcing stressing the interactions between managerial intentionality, path-dependent experience and knowledge accumulation, as well as the institutional and selection forces. In particular, we develop a co-evolutionary offshore decision model integrating managerial intentionality, knowledge/experience and institutional and selection forces that explain the heterogeneous outcomes of offshoring. Although emergent outcomes of co-evolutionary dynamics are highly idiosyncratic, we identify in this paper some underlying mechanism that drive specific global sourcing patterns. Finally, we position the papers of this special issue in this co-evolutionary model.     

State institutions, risk, and lending in global capital markets

This paper examines one component of the expansion of global capitalism, the lending of capital across national borders and the affect of national political institutions and arrangements upon that lending. Global capital markets expanded rapidly during the latter part of the twentieth century, prompting discussions about the role of mobile capital. This contribution makes three key points to the understanding of globalization, its impacts, its causes, and its relationship to the nation-state, business and development. First, globalization is an uneven, bifurcated, phenomenon. Only a select group access these global capital markets, while many watch from the sidelines. Second, national political arrangements help us understand systematic disparities in access to global capital. National and local public policies, national political institutions, and other local activities prove instrumental in affecting access to global capital. Democracy and regulatory stability matter as they provide information to international investors about the risk to investments from local arenas. Third, the data presents a methodological obstacle in understanding how politics affects access to global capital. The structure of the data’s distribution can hide real relationships and pervert substantive interpretations if not managed. Without addressing the statistical concerns presented by the data the results would at worst be little more than garbage in, garbage out, and at best misleading.     

中国企业国际采购发展阶段特征的案例分析

随着中国企业国际化的发展,国际采购必将为中国企业国际竞争力的提高与可持续发展作出越来越重要的贡献。国际采购不仅是企业的运作职能,更是企业的战略职能。运作层次国际采购向战略层次国际采购的发展可以划分为不同阶段。本文采用案例研究方法对不同阶段中国企业国际采购的特征进行实证分析。研究结果表明,中国企业国际采购发展的初级阶段主要是追求海外供应的高质量和高技术,随着国际采购阶段的深入,中国企业国际采购能力建设将更为完善,将追求更为多样化的战略利益。中国企业国际采购所面临的硬性成本与外部障碍的重要性下降,软性成本和内部障碍越来越重要。对于国际采购发展程度较高的企业,内部障碍对企业国际采购能力建设提出了更高的要求。但软性成本的阶段性特征表现得不明显,文化与商业习惯差异是比较普遍的软性成本,其他软性成本类型主要与企业特征或行业类型有关。     

Additive manufacturing and the global factory: Disruptive technologies and the location of international business

Additive manufacturing (AM) is an emergent technology that is shifting the nature of production, sourcing, and other value-chain activities. AM has the potential to substantially disrupt the structure and operations of international business. In this paper, we leverage the global factory concept (e.g., Buckley & Ghauri, 2004) to frame our discussion of the likely impact of AM on global production. We identify and conceptualize specific variables and relationships to offer a nuanced explanation that highlights the potential re-distribution of global production at four levels of analysis – global, country, local area, and household. We propose how key variables – Intellectual Property Status, Industrial Standards, Branding, Aesthetics, Authenticity, Material Type, Complexity, Customization, Size, Logistical Complexity, Delivery Timeliness, Demand, Access, and Technical Competence – likely will impact localization of production. We examine industries and production activities likely to be most affected by AM. We conclude with a discussion of managerial and practical implications and identify avenues for further research.     

Facilitation of links between multinational subsidiaries and SMEs: The Scottish Technology and Collaboration (STAC) initiative

Multinational subsidiaries constitute a potential source of social capital for SMEs that can help in the internationalisation process. Such social capital is particularly valuable because it is a form of bridging (socially heterogeneous), rather than bonding (socially homogenous), social capital, and therefore could potentially lead to new information, ideas and opportunities. However, even in the best situations, limits on information exchange and trust hamper collaboration between SMEs and MNC subsidiaries. Facilitation by a neutral agency may help to overcome these barriers. This paper presents the case of the Scottish Technology and Collaboration (STAC) initiative as an illustration of the facilitation process—comprising architecting, brokering and coaching—and its outcomes, chiefly the formation of social capital, which in turn has the potential to lead to knowledge outcomes and ultimately internationalisation for the SME. This case reveals important implications for both policy and theories of SME internationalisation, especially the need to recognize and lever under-utilized sources of social capital.     

Domestic value chains as stepping stones to global value chain integration

Identifying the determinants of global value chain (GVC) integration is essential to understand the past expansion and current slowdown in GVCs. In this paper, we study the role of domestic value chains (DVCs) for GVC integration. In the presence of industry‐specific fixed costs of fragmenting production and of switching across input suppliers, DVCs can either be stepping stones or stumbling blocks for subsequent GVC entry. Focusing on backward linkages, that is, the sourcing of intermediates, we provide robust empirical evidence in favour of the stepping‐stone hypothesis. In our benchmark specification, a one standard deviation increase in DVC integration raises subsequent GVC integration by about 0.4%. To identify the mechanisms at work, we exploit two dimensions of industry‐level heterogeneity: product differentiation (a proxy of fragmentation costs) and relationship specificity (a proxy of the costs of switching between suppliers). We find that DVC integration is less conducive to GVC integration in industries that are characterised by relatively high switching costs and relatively low fragmentation costs.     

The role of international hubs in a fashion retailer's sourcing strategy

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the role of international hubs in a fashion retailer's sourcing strategy. In order to compete more effectively in a dynamic fashion market, retailers have adopted a low cost, offshore sourcing model to supplying their domestic market. There are three approaches which have been used to implement an offshore sourcing strategy; direct sourcing from the HQ, the use of intermediaries and international hubs. The aims of the research were to understand the motives behind the development of international hubs, identify their stages of development and determine both their strategic and operational role within fashion companies' global strategies. Research was carried out through semi-structured interviews with the heads of 3 international hubs, one buying office and the head of merchandising at the HQ in the UK of a subsidiary of a major UK fashion chain. Results show that hubs evolve from buying offices to multifunctional units, specialising in supplying particular products to the market. Although hubs perform important operational functions, there was little intra hub coordination and the headquarters exerted considerable control over their hubs with regard to overall sourcing strategies.     

Global talent management: A life cycle view of the interaction between human and social capital

We present a theoretical model that describes the interaction between social and human capital and the different forms that such an interaction may take – positive and negative. Extending the concepts of stocks and flows of knowledge, this model evaluates social capital flows against human capital stocks. When we compare these flows to the value of human capital, we are able to better understand how these resources can interact with each other, influence global talent development, and change over time. We discuss the implications for practices in global talent management in selecting, developing, and harnessing talent.     

R＆D全球化、反向外溢与技术获取型FDI

在科技全球化浪潮冲击下．跨国公司产业竞争优势演化催生的R＆D资源全球转移为发展中国家实现技术获取型对外直接投资（TSFDI）．获取反向技术外溢创造了机遇。本文分析了跨国公司R＆D资源转移出现的背景．指出TSFDI是对接跨国公司R＆D资源的有效途径．并进而研究了TSFDI与反向技术外溢的关系，归纳了发展中国家TSFDI的现状。     

Manage the value and liability of offshoring innovation

The impact of offshoring innovation on firm innovativeness remains unclear. To bridge this gap, we draw upon the new eclectic paradigm and the strategy structure paradigm to examine offshoring innovation, a combination of geographical dispersion and functional interdependence of various innovation activities. We also explore the sole and joint effects of two managing mechanisms – a global offshoring strategy and captive operations – on the relationship between offshoring innovation and firm innovativeness. As offshoring innovation has positive impact on firm innovativeness, each mechanism helps firms appropriate the value of offshoring innovation. Despite that, the joint adoption of both mechanisms exerts a greater impact of offshoring innovation on firm innovativeness than does sole one.