Repatriates and reverse knowledge transfer in MNCs

There is widely held assumption that knowledge is one of the most important drivers of firm’s performance. Multinational companies (MNCs) have the potential advantage of acquiring and utilizing knowledge across borders. But for this potential advantage to become real, the knowledge generated in any of their units around the world should be transferred to their other units. This paper adopts an innovative approach for the study of intra-MNC knowledge transfer by focusing on the role of repatriates as transferors of knowledge from foreign subsidiaries to the headquearters, which is an under-researched topic. In particular, the paper studies the impact of repatriates’ abilities and motivation to share knowledge (disseminative capacity) on the transfer of knowledge from subsidiaries to headquarters (reverse knowledge transfer). In addition, the paper examines the determinants of repatriates’ disseminative capacity. After reviewing the relevant literature and proposing the hypotheses, this paper presents an empirical research with a sample of Spanish MNCs. The findings provide evidence that repatriates’ disseminative capacity is positively associated with reverse knowledge transfer. The paper also identifies some drivers of this: the knowledge the repatriates acquired during the expatriation and the firm’s international assignments policy.     

Knowledge transfer in project‐based organizations: An organizational culture perspective

This conceptual paper investigates the process of knowledge transfer in project‐based organizations from the perspective of organizational culture. The paper identifies obstacles to knowledge transfer in project‐based organizations and emphasizes the importance of organizational and project cultures in this process. The study provides some suggestions for improving knowledge transfer in project‐based organizations and notes the implications of the paper for project management.     

Developing collaborative professionalism: an investigation of status differentiation in academic organizations in knowledge transfer partnerships

In recent years, there has been a significant growth in knowledge transfer partnerships to improve the quality and timeliness of health care. These activities require an increasing level of interdependence between academic and health care professionals, with important implications for human resource management. To understand these knowledge transfer partnerships, we conducted an in-depth longitudinal study based on 99 interviews and 5 focus group workshops across academic and health care professionals in nine university-based knowledge transfer partnerships in England. We explore how academic professionals of lower and higher status organizations develop a new form of professional work, based on the principles of collaborative professionalism, during their involvement in partnerships with health care professionals. We illuminate how the interdependent work between academic professionals and health care professionals in the development of a new academic specialization is shaped by the status of their organizations.     

The impact of supply chain quality management practices and knowledge transfer on organisational performance: an empirical investigation from China

In recent years, both quality management practices (QMP) and knowledge transfer (KT) have been studied extensively from inter-organisational and intra-organisational perspectives. However, to the best of our knowledge, the interaction between QMP and KT in a supply chain and their joint effects on organisational performance have not been addressed fully. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights for improving performance by mapping the relationship between supply chain quality management practices (SCQMP) and KT. A survey of 157 Chinese manufacturing firms is used to test a conceptual model that proposes relationship among SCQMP, KT and organisational performance (including operational performance and innovation performance). Structural equation modelling reveals that internal QMP have significantly positive effect on internal KT, while QMP at supply chain level have highly positive effect on cross-organisational KT. Furthermore, the results show that both internal KT and cross-organisational KT can promote operational and innovation performance, although the influence from internal KT is much more significant than cross-organisational KT for Chinese firms. The findings contribute to theory as well as practice by increasing understanding of how to improve the operational and innovation performance through enhancing SCQMP and KT.     

Linking HRM and knowledge transfer via individual‐level mechanisms

In response to recent calls for more research on micro‐foundations, we seek to link human resource management (HRM) and knowledge transfer through individual‐level mechanisms, arguing that individual‐level conditions of action influence the extent to which employees engage in knowledge exchange. We examine four such conditions empirically using data from 811 employees in three Danish multinational corporations (MNCs). Our findings suggest that individual‐level perceptions of organizational commitment to knowledge sharing, and extrinsic motivation, directly influence the extent to which employees engage in firm‐internal knowledge exchange. We also find that intrinsic motivation and engagement in social interaction significantly mediate the relationship between perceived organizational commitment and knowledge exchange. Given that HRM can influence such conditions through an overall signaling effect and various practices, an understanding of these micro‐foundations will shed light on how organizations can effectively enhance knowledge transfer through HRM. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Programme knowledge and value of work-family practices and organizational commitment

This study examined the relationship between the programme knowledge and value of work-family practices and organizational commitment. Employee programme knowledge of work-family policies was significantly related to affective commitment. This finding suggests that organizations should pay attention to how much their employees know about work-family benefits and how practices can be accessed. While the value of paid parental leave was positively related to normative commitment, the perceived value of childcare policy was negatively associated with both affective and normative commitment. These findings suggest that organizations must be aware that how employees perceive work-family practices can influence their commitment towards the organization. Specifically, practices that are viewed as having minimal value might actually lead to a reduction in commitment.     

Knowledge networks and universities: Locational and organisational aspects of knowledge transfer interactions

The aim of this paper is to explore the inter-organisational knowledge networks that universities in the UK engage in through their knowledge transfer activities. In particular, it analyses the extent to which organisational and locational factors are associated with the nature of these networks. Based on a UK-wide survey of universities, it is shown that the nature and formation of inter-organisational knowledge networks is related principally to the organisational characteristics of network actors, and secondarily to their spatial location. The characteristics of a network actor, in this case a university, are likely to influence the type, diversity and location of other actors with which it networks. Nevertheless, spatial location is an important secondary factor influencing network formation, especially the geographic reach of a university's network. It is further found that the value generated by universities from their knowledge networks is associated with the type of organisations within which they interact as well as their spatial location. It is concluded that such networks impact both regional innovation capability and regional competitiveness. The results have implications for policymakers, especially in terms of the spatial scale at which the demand and supply for university knowledge can be best mediated.     

Preserving knowledge legacies: workforce aging,turnover and human resource issues in the US electric power industry

The aging of the workforce is believed to be a potential threat to productivity of companies both in the US and worldwide. High levels of turnover that may result from workforce aging could cause short-term as well as permanent loss of knowledge critical to firm operations and customer service. While there is a wealth of research regarding the causes of turnover, there is comparatively little research on the actual effects of turnover, particularly involuntary forms of turnover such as retirement. Focusing on the US electric power industry, whose employees have average ages and company tenures among the highest in the world, this paper explores the aging workforce issue both qualitatively and quantitatively. Results from an executive survey encompassing companies representing over 75 per cent of the industry's workers affirm that workforce aging is the electricity industry's dominant human resource (HR) concern but that it is interrelated with many other top HR issues, including skill shortages, leadership, and transition from an ‘entitlement-based’ to a ‘performance-based’ culture. Implications of prior literature on organizational learning, turnover and socio-technical systems theories are discussed, and propositions are offered as a framework for further research on the general effects of potential knowledge loss due to aging-related turnover.     

A longitudinal investigation on the factors affecting newcomers' adjustment: evidence from Japanese organizations

Using the longitudinal survey data of newcomers working for Japanese firms, this study demonstrates that the socialization tactics used by Japanese firms were positively related to the degree of socialization of newcomers, which eventually correlated positively with the time-series differences in organizational commitment and achievement motivation from the first year (T1) to the second year (T2) of their organizational entry, and negatively with the longitudinal change in turnover intention from T1 to T2. In addition, the results show that the newcomers' attitudes toward their pre-entry job search efforts, as with their entry (T1), had a negative influence on the change in value commitment from T1 to T2, indicating that those who rated their past job search activities as successful tended, as of their entry into the organization, to diminish their level of acceptance of their organization's values over a year. Findings are used to discuss how firms can effectively manage their entry-level employees to facilitate their adjustment and retention.     

Organizational practice transfer within a transnational professional service firm: the role of leadership and control

Most cross-border organizational practice transfer involves implementation challenges, yet key literature in this field largely overlooks the mediating role of the transfer coalition, which serves as a ‘bridge’ between headquarters and subsidiaries in transferring an organizational practice. By exploring an in-depth case study of a top-tier professional service firm, this study contributes to the literature on cross-border human resource management practice transfer. We show that the transfer coalition displayed activities that translated into two separate managerial roles – transfer leadership and control – that were practiced with quite different levels of commitment by different members and impacted the successful management of the transfer process. We propose two distinctive transfer coalition archetypes – the entrepreneurial and the ceremonial type – where the leadership and control roles were practiced quite differently and reached different levels of organizational practice adoption. Furthermore, we suggest practical implications for HR professionals in order to improve global leadership and control competence.     

The effectiveness of teams in organizations: a meta-analysis

The proposed meta-analysis of 61 independent samples aims to identify whether, and if so under what conditions, team working in organizations is related to organizational effectiveness. Team working had a significant though small positive relationship with both performance outcomes and staff attitudes. Our contingency analyses further showed that team working had a stronger relationship with performance outcomes if accompanied by complementary HR measures and in non-health-care settings. Finally, we found that team working is more strongly related to attitudinal outcomes in Sociotechnical Systems and health-care settings.     

Perceived organizational support and knowledge sharing: employees’ self-construal matters

Abstract

HR professionals are expected to become more involved in knowledge management and facilitate knowledge sharing among employees in the knowledge economy. In this study, we investigated the relationship between perceived organizational support and knowledge sharing by taking account of employees’ interdependent and independent self-construal. Our hypotheses were examined using a 2-wave survey data-set from 145 teachers working at 4 Dutch vocational education and training schools. The results showed that perceived organizational support was positively related to knowledge sharing for employees either with a high interdependent self or with a low independent self. However, this positive relationship disappeared for employees either with a low interdependent self or with a high independent self. Overall, the moderating effect of self-construal revealed a new avenue towards a better understanding of the relationship between organizational support and employees’ knowledge sharing. It provided a tentative answer to the question of why organizational support does not often succeed in motivating employees to share their knowledge in the workplace.     

Rethinking the policy of contracting out Social Services to non-governmental organizations

The article describes, analyzes and evaluates the lessons and dilemmas resulting from the Government's policy of contracting out with non-governmental organizations for the provision of three types of services: foster care, adoption and home care services for the elderly. The dilemmas are: structural tension between governmental control and autonomy of provider organizations; power?–?dependence relations between the Government and the providers, the choice option available to clients; the ethical, moral and professional aspects of contractualism; the myth of innovative programs initiated by provider organizations; service quality versus price of services; and accountability of provider organizations to their stakeholders. Based on the lessons learned, the article highlights the need to rethink the strategy of contracting out and reassess the role of the Government in providing social services.     

Extrinsic motivation as a determinant of knowledge exchange in sales teams: A social network approach

This paper investigates extrinsic motivation as a determinant of knowledge exchange among employees in sales teams. Applying a social network approach, we study different forms of knowledge-exchange behaviors from the perspective of a focal employee and from the perspective of the dyad. From the focal employees' perspective, we disentangle knowledge seeking from knowledge providing, and argue that these two behaviors are affected differently by employees' extrinsic motivation. From the dyad perspective, we take similarity in motivation of tied-to employees and reciprocity of exchange ties into account. To test our hypotheses, we apply exponential random graph models to data gathered from 138 employees in five different sales teams distributed across three companies in Central Europe. The results of our analysis from the focal employees' perspective show that extrinsically motivated employees generally engage in less knowledge exchange. The dyad perspective further highlights that sales employees proceed purposefully when they exchange knowledge with coworkers. For instance, two employees' relative levels of extrinsic motivation determine their willingness to engage in reciprocal knowledge exchange. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on the microfoundations of organizational knowledge management and draw conclusions concerning HRM practices used to foster extrinsic motivation, thereby affecting knowledge exchange.     

Technology transfer organizations: Services and business models

Knowledge and technology transfer organizations (KTTOs) are crucial nodes connecting suppliers and users of knowledge that support the endogenous potential of innovation in firms. Prior studies on the services provided to firms by KTTOs tend to have weak theoretical foundations, to rely on case study approaches, and to focus attention on one service or a few services provided by a single organization. This study extends and integrates elements from a conceptual knowledge value chain and business model frameworks. The value chain perspective allows integrating the services offered by KTTOs in the value chain of firms. As for the business model perspective, it allows developing hypotheses about how KTTOs create and deliver value for client firms. To test these hypotheses, we collected and analyzed a data set of 281 publicly supported KTTOs located in Canada. The empirical results show that different types of KTTOs tend to specialize in the provision of services at different stages of the value chain of firms, and to benefit from complementarity effects between service offerings. Our analysis also shows that different types of KTTOs devise different types of business models that are centered on services linked to different stages of the value chain. Overall, these results suggest that managers of KTTOs could improve their business models and increase value to client firms by increasing the degree of customization of solutions offered to clients which, in turn, would also increase revenues from clients, and hence reduce KTTOs′ vulnerability to reductions in government funding.     

Managing knowledge transfer between parent country nationals (Australia) and host country nationals (Asia)

Parent country nationals (PCNs) have traditionally played an important role in international business by transferring knowledge to overseas subsidiaries. Based on a case study of an Australian manufacturer in Asia, this study shows how the knowledge gap between PCNs and host country nationals (HCNs) represents a barrier to knowledge transfer. This paper uses Polanyi's (1962) tacit triangle construct to examine the nature of this knowledge gap, and discusses how it affects the relationship between PCNs and HCNs. It develops a framework explaining how PCNs can adapt their role in response to the knowledge gap.     

The transfer of organizational practices: a diachronic perspective from China

Extensive research has been undertaken on the transfer of organizational practices by multinational firms (e.g. Morgan, Kristensen and Whitley 2001; Ferner, Quintanilla, and Sánchez-Runde 2006 Ferner, A., Quintanilla, X. and Sánchez-Runde, C., eds. 2006. Multinationals, Institutions and the Construction of Transnational Practices, London: Palgrave.  [Google Scholar]). However, little investigation has assessed the role that time plays in this process. The commonplace theoretical assumption is that as their overseas subsidiaries become more embedded in the local environment they increasingly take on the practices that prevail locally (Rosenzweig and Nohria 1994; Farley, Hoenig and Yang 2004). There have, though, been few longitudinal studies that would allow the veracity of this assumption or its implications to be assessed; most studies provide one-off, synchronic ‘snapshots’ of organizations. Drawing upon research conducted at a UK-owned retail firm in China between 1999 and 2005, this paper provides a diachronic perspective that can trace emergent trends. Data are derived from mixed methods: 140 interviews with expatriate managers and local staff from all levels of the hierarchy, a three month period of ethnographic research and a total of 305 survey questionnaires. Comparison between findings from the more recent research and those based upon the earlier research suggests that time does play a role in affecting transplanted organizational practices. We report that in some respects the organizational practices of the firm in question increasingly took on more of the ‘colour’ of those that prevailed in the host environment. However, convergence with local practices was far from total, some practices bear increasing resemblance to the firm's parent country operation. We also caution that it is difficult to disentangle the isomorphic influence of the passage of time from factors such as the rapid withdrawal of expatriate managers from the operational level and the impact of the firm's rapid expansion across China. Moreover, we suggest that the local–global dichotomy, upon which much of the convergence–divergence debate rests, is perhaps increasingly problematic.     

Impacts from climate change on organizations: a conceptual foundation

Physical impacts from climate change already pose major challenges for organizations, and the trend is rising. Organization theorists, however, have barely begun to systematically consider the organizational impacts of more and increasingly intense storms, floods, droughts, fires, sea level rise or changing growing seasons as part of their domain of study. Eight organizationally relevant dimensions of climate impacts are identified: severity, temporal scale, spatial scale, predictability, mode, immediacy, state change potential and accelerating trend potential. Combined, their scale, scope and systemic uncertainty suggest future conditions of systemic hyperturbulence in organizational environments, defined here as ‘massive discontinuous change’ (MDC). To build a conceptual foundation for organizations to respond and adapt to MDC, the paper examines contributions from literatures on the management of sustainability, crisis, risk, resilience and adaptive organizational change. It highlights gaps for addressing both business challenges and opportunities from MDC, and suggests avenues for future research. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

知识转移视角下的组织结构转移研究

组织结构转移是知识转移的重要组成部分,是组织结构转移者与组织结构接收者的一种互动。本文对当前国内外有关知识及其转移、组织结构及其转移和组织结构转移对组织变革、技术创新能力的影响等方面的研究进行梳理,并对此作简要评论,认为组织结构作为组织知识的重要组成部分,组织结构的转移是普遍存在的,并且具有知识转移的一般规律和特点。     

A model of project knowledge management

Knowledge is the most important resource needed for project management. The aim of this article is to present a full, consistent model of project knowledge management. There are two basic types of project knowledge: micro‐knowledge, needed for performing a single task (or its part), and macro‐knowledge (in other words, all the knowledge possessed by people from a given organizational level). Project knowledge is managed at four distinct levels: individual, project, organization, and global. The article describes the micro‐knowledge life cycle and macro‐knowledge life cycles from each organizational level, as well as the processes of vertical knowledge flow between organizational levels.