Knowledge transfer and home-market innovativeness: A comparison of emerging and advanced economy multinationals

Knowledge transfer and innovation in multinationals: a review of the literature using SCM-TBFO framework

Purpose

Business research has highlighted the importance of knowledge transfer and innovation in multinational firms for better performance outcomes. However, the existing body of literature is characterized by differentiated theories, antecedents and outcomes. This study aims to address this gap by adopting a systematic approach to analyze knowledge transfer and innovation literature from the perspective of multinational organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

This study follows “preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses” (PRISMA) guidelines for conducting a systematic literature review. The study adopts a systematic approach for analyzing the literature using School of thought (S), Contexts (C), Methodologies (M), Triggers (T), Barriers (B), Facilitators (F) and Outcomes (O) framework (SCM-TBFO framework) devised for holistic literature review. The study analyzes 75 articles from reputed journals from 2000 to 2022.

Findings

In general, knowledge transfer and innovation in multinationals is a relatively new area and is evolving rapidly. There are many opportunities to study the various perspectives that are included in the SCM-TBFO framework. The key schools of thought included the evolutionary theory of innovation, institutional theory and internationalization theory. The studies had differing settings or contexts, including China, Europe, the USA and Taiwan. Further, key methodologies that were used included regression, case studies, structural equation modeling (SEM) and theoretical studies. Knowledge transfer and innovation triggers included competitive advantage, competitive pressure, constant requirements for better products and services, foreign direct investment (FDI) and globalization. Knowledge transfer and innovation facilitators were categorized into strategy-related facilitators, organization culture and orientation-related facilitators, and resource-related facilitators. Knowledge transfer and innovation barriers included autonomy, international knowledge dispersion, risk of knowledge leakage, search breadth, ambiguity and institutional voids. Key outcomes of knowledge transfer and innovation in multinationals included financial performance, innovation performance, knowledge flow, transfer effectiveness, patents and new product development.

Originality/value

By synthesizing the literature, the study aims to provide an overview of the current state of research on knowledge transfer and innovation in multinationals. The study develops a holistic model for fostering knowledge transfer and innovation in multinationals. The proposed novel framework can also be applied to perform a holistic assessment of the current literature in various research domains. Further, the study suggests future theory development and research agendas. The study also provides implications for practitioners using the framework to achieve more desirable outcomes.

Configuring political relationships to navigate host-country institutional complexity: Insights from Anglophone sub-Saharan Africa

We examine how ties with multiple host-country political institutions contribute to MNE subsidiary performance in countries with weak formal institutions. We suggest that forging relationships between subsidiaries and host-country government actors, local chieftains, and religious leaders generates regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive political resources. We integrate institutional and configuration theories to argue that similarity to an ideal configuration of the three political resources contributes to MNE subsidiary performance, and that the more dysfunctional host-country institutions, the greater the impact on performance. We test our hypotheses using primary and archival data from 604 MNE subsidiaries in 23 Anglophone sub-Saharan African countries and find support for our hypotheses. In our conclusion, we discuss the wider theoretical, managerial, and public-policy implications of our findings.

Who wins the race for knowledge-based competitiveness? Comparing European and North American FDI patterns

The geographical dispersion of value-added activities triggered by the ‘great unbundling’ of production has made the race for competitiveness increasingly shaped by the capability of multinational corporations (MNCs) to orchestrate global innovation networks at world scale. However, major differences in the distribution of foreign investments across value chain functions undertaken by MNCs based in different economic areas have drawn little attention in the empirical literature. This work attempts to fill this gap by focusing on the FDI patterns of European and North American MNCs, which have historically played a key role in the internationalization of production and innovation. To this aim, we compare outward FDI flows of European and North American MNCs in manufacturing and knowledge-intensive activities over the period 2003–2017. We show that while European MNCs are key players in global networks of production, they do not reach the heights of North American investors in the dispersion of knowledge-based activities. Most importantly, European MNCs rely on emerging economies more to offshore production than to set up R&D labs in these countries; by contrast, US-based MNCs are more prone to engage in knowledge-intensive FDIs towards the most dynamic emerging countries (especially China and India, as well as the Four Asian Tigers). Further, we account for the growing role of new entrants in global FDI markets by comparing the advanced economies’ foreign investment decisions with those from Chinese MNCs. Drawing from the literature on the globalization of R&D and cross-border knowledge transmission, a discussion is finally offered on the potential implications of the detected differences in internationalization patterns, together with possible directions for future research.

The Influence Mechanism of Knowledge-Based Professionals' Core Value Identity on Creativity From the Perspective of the Knowledge Economy

In the era of the knowledge economy, tacit knowledge transfer is a key strategy for developing personal creativity, but it also is affected by core value agreement. Knowledge-based professionals have innate sensitivity with core value agreement. In the knowledge capital development system, tacit knowledge transfer is a key strategy to be discovered. This research investigates the core value identity mechanism of knowledge professionals from the perspective of the knowledge economy. The results revealed the intrinsic relationship between core values identity, tacit knowledge transferring, and personal creativity based on knowledge-based professionals' data and employing core values identity, tacit knowledge transferring, and personal creativity based on knowledge-based professionals' data and structural equation modeling. The results also represent the incentive path of tacit knowledge transferring in personal creativity under the core value agreement condition, which may provide a theoretical inspiration to foster knowledge-based talent creativity.