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This chapter will discuss the extent to which existing models on expatriate functions within the international business literature, still effectively capture the roles currently performed by expatriate managers. It analyse the Edstrom and Galbraith (1977) typology and present a conceptual framework on the roles currently performed by expatriate managers within MNCs. To do this, it will draw inspiration from the resource-based view (Barney, 1991; Peng, M. W. (2001). The resource-based view and international business. Journal of Management, 27, 803–829. Wernerfelt, 1984), and the organisation capability view (Grant, 1996). Following several propositions about managers’ key functions within MNCs, challenges of creating an all-encompassing framework on expatriate functions, and suggestions for future research and theoretical development will be identified.

This chapter will present a conceptual framework on expatriate functions.

Four decades since Edstrom and Galbraith’s seminal work, international developments have continued to impress upon the way MNCs organise and manage their worldwide activities. Yet, as the business environment progresses, theoretical models examining how international development impact the functions undertaken by expatriate managers within MNCs individuals are still relatively scarce. Hence, this chapter aims to contribute to the theoretical advancement in the area of expatriate functions by highlighting possible changes and expansion of expatriate managers within the current global business context.

International business (IB) emerged in the 1950s and 1960s when cross-border business was expanding rapidly. This expansion came to an abrupt halt in the 1970s, when global economic growth stagnated and a series of crises and challenges raised for IB scholars the same question confronting us today: whether the contemporary crises marked a temporary interruption to the increasing global economic integration of the post-World War II era or a major turning point toward a more fragmented world. Reflecting back on how the IB field responded to this earlier era of disruption can provide some useful guidance for IB scholars today, especially in terms of the value of detailed sector-specific case studies, closer interaction with researchers in the social sciences, and a renewed focus on MNCs as actors engaged in shaping the multiple environments in which they operate.

Drawing on a case study of the adoption of an American organizational form – the “Academic Health Science Centre” (or “AHSC”) – in English healthcare, the authors develop a model of the “translation work” required to translate an organizational form from one organizational field to another. The findings contribute to the literature on translation and shed light on the microfoundations of institutions by examining the complex relationship among agency, meaning, institutions, and temporality that underpin the translation of a contested organizational form. The authors also show the important, but limited, role of agency when translation occurs at the broad field level and argue that the translation of organization forms can, in at least some situations, best be understood as a “garbage can” rather than the linear and agentic view usually described in the translation literature.

Purpose – The present chapter discusses how qualitative research can assist in rethinking and transcending the limitations of the notion of one-way knowledge transfer, which is still a dominant ontological paradigm of organizational learning in China.

Approach – The authors first present their critiques of the dominant knowledge transfer research paradigm. Then, using a recent case example, they illustrate how qualitative research, coupled with the alternative ontological paradigm of knowledge translation can provide context-sensitive insights into how cultural barriers and other knowledge boundaries can be crossed and how breakthroughs in knowledge transfer can be achieved.

Findings – Qualitative methods are highly appropriate for understanding complex social processes involving political and cross-cultural dynamics. They are ideal for gathering and making sense of the various perceptions, feelings, assumptions, aspirations, motives, and attributions that are held by members of different groups. They can track the sequence of key events and critical choices, and they can provide insights into the anatomy of social networks and power structures.

Originality/Value – The present chapter highlights the areas where qualitative designs can generate novel and fascinating insights regarding organizational learning in China. The authors argue that if researchers are interested in the diversity of conditions, in knowledge creation, and in the emergence of new practices within unique contexts, then they would be well advised to adopt qualitative designs.

Purpose — This article is inspired by sociology and institutional theory. It investigates how and why the adoption of Evidence-Based Library and Information Practice (EBLIP) by public and academic libraries in Europe reveals a remarkable variety and complexity. Primarily, it is observed differences in adoption and use of EBLIP — principles in different European countries that are in focus of the article.

Design/methodology/approach — The purpose of this article is to take a closer look upon these differences. The theoretical framework applied is inspired by a sociological approach, especially the notions developed within the framework of Scandinavian institutional theory. This approach invites to deal with the topic in a nuanced way by delivering fruitful concepts such as drivers for adopting new ideas, the importance of identity and organisational fields, concept migration, adoption processes and travel routes of ideas including the importance of imitation and translation of concepts. Furthermore, in this article, we will also consider the significance of topics such as organisational and information culture and leadership of adoption processes. The methodology can be classified as desktop research and some of the findings are based on a government-supported study in Denmark.

Findings — What was found in the course of the work? This will refer to analysis, discussion or results. The findings relate to the purposes and they are formulated in relation to six research questions. Findings are that several factors influence the adoption and use of EBLIP. The factors are among others national culture, cultural traits embedded in the value system of different types of library work and also related to information culture. The concept of organisational recipes appears to be a rather strong concept in relation to, for example, which forms of EBLIP a library adopt.

Research limitations/implications (if applicable) — The research clearly demonstrates that the diversified theoretical approach taken in this article would be fruitful as a starting point for further research.

Practical implications (if applicable) — A practical implication is that the library and information sector could benefit from the establishment of institutions that produce systematic reviews and also that the sector ought to be aware of the different forms of evidence-based practices classified as either soft or hard.

Originality/value — The article is one of the few in the field that introduces several new theoretical approaches together with an emphasis on cultures at different forms and levels.

Organizations that adopt new practices employ managers to make decisions about how to materialize these practices. I examine how these managers move between the meanings and resources found in extra-local and local realms. I find that managers’ practices shift over time from adapting BPR practices to inhabiting BPR as an idea. Managers’ approaches are shaped by each organization’s history of efforts to introduce extra-local ideas. Rather than adapting BPR practices, managers draw on change tools, techniques, and methods that have worked in the organization and integrate BPR work into ongoing interactions, activities, and language in the local context.