Abstract
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.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 91-101 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | International Business Review |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2014 Feb |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Absorptive capacity
- Human capital
- Knowledge creation
- Knowledge flows
- Organizational capital
- Organizational learning
- Social capital
- Subsidiary management
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Business and International Management
- Finance
- Marketing