Search results

The purpose of this paper is to understand knowledge grafting through localized professionals in the internationalization of the firm. Knowledge grafting refers to firms increasing their knowledge stock by acquiring new staff, and while the concept is not new in studies on firms’ internationalization, there is little understanding of the characteristics of the individuals carrying the knowledge, the types of knowledge grafted and how it contributes to a market entry process.

The authors conducted an explorative study with a multiple-case research design and purposely selected five localized Swedish managers working for Russian subsidiaries of Swedish firms. Face-to-face interviews were conducted. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed based on three types of knowledge: general foreign market knowledge, social network knowledge and professional knowledge. The authors also considered both private and professional ties.

The findings show that characteristics of the localized professional and the firm can influence the type of knowledge grafted and how it is used. The findings also highlight the key role of the individual as knowledge carrier and show an alternative way to obtain knowledge in firm internationalization.

This study comes with limitations. Only Swedish firms entering Russia with wholly owned subsidiaries have been considered. Further studies comparing knowledge grafting with firms in different entry mode, varying stage of market entry, as well as other countries of origin can further enrich our understanding. Future studies can also focus on localized professionals to shed light on the knowledge transfer between them and other individuals within the firms and the potential impact of their departure on knowledge grafting.

Internationalizing firms should pay attention to the opportunity of grafting knowledge by appointing localized professionals already living in the market. Governmental agencies in the host county can be a valuable source for identifying foreign nationals of the same origin as the firm.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to focus on the individual level of knowledge grafting and to examine how localized professionals acquire knowledge to support firms in internationalization.

Purpose – This chapter aims at exploring the effects of globalization on technological change by focusing on the determinants of the direction of technological change at the firm level of analysis by following the induced technological change approach implemented by the localized technological change hypothesis.

Methodology/approach – In the empirical analysis, we proxy the direction of technological change by means of the changes in the output elasticity of capital and analyze how it is affected by the changes in factor market costs and firms' attributes for a panel of 1,113 companies listed on UK and the main continental Europe financial markets for the period 1995–2003.

Findings – We find that small firms are more likely to introduce capital-intensive technological changes while large firms will introduce skill-intensive technological changes.

Research limitations/implications – Our model provides a clear analytical framework that interprets the growing skill intensity of the advanced economies as the result of the introduction of new technologies induced by the growing globalization and biased by the characteristics and the types of innovation strategies of the firms.

Originality/value of paper – In so doing, the chapter adds to the existing literature in that it first explores the effects of globalization upon factor markets and, second, it investigates the effects of the direction of technological change within a microeconomic perspective.

This paper aims to explore the condition under which a multinational company’s organizational headquarters influences its development of a localized overseas product.

Drawing on interviews with members at a Japanese multinational company’s headquarters, the authors’ analysis shows two invisible bottlenecks in the headquarters organization: the psychological resistance of the headquarters’ engineers and a lack of communication channels between the headquarters and overseas units.

The authors’ analysis shows two invisible bottlenecks in the headquarters organization: the psychological resistance of the headquarters’ engineers and a lack of communication channels between the headquarters and overseas units.

The authors’ research provides a rare glimpse into the ways that the conditions of local knowledge and foreign subsidiaries and the organizational conditions of home country headquarters are intertwined with one another during a period of product development.

This chapter develops an integrated model that encompasses four aspects: (1) face-to-face (F2F), (2) online teaching, (3) massive open online courses (MOOCs), and (4) the combination of Western, localized, and indigenous knowledge to provide blended entrepreneurship education. The model emphasizes the importance of a heutagogical approach and the institutional environment in blended entrepreneurship education. It is then applied to a start-up university to help develop students’ entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial identity aspirations, and entrepreneurial skills. The model’s implications for research and entrepreneurship education are discussed.

Since there are increasing international concerns with both the positive and negative impacts of globalization on indigenous and national development, how to manage the realities and practices of globalization and localization in education for maximizing the benefits and minimizing the disadvantages for the development of individuals and their local community inevitably becomes a key issue in educational development particularly in the developing countries. Proposes a typology of multiple theories of fostering local knowledge and human development to address this key concern. These theories have varied emphasis on global dependence and local orientation and therefore they have their own characteristics, strengths, and limitations. The typology can provide a wide spectrum of alternatives for policy‐makers and educators to conceptualize and formulate their strategies and practices in developing local education. Also presents how to facilitate individual learning and organizational learning in fast‐changing local and global environments and how to foster both individual knowledge and institutional knowledge in schools as the major contribution to the growth of local knowledge and local development. It is hoped that the theories and ideas raised in this paper can benefit the ongoing international efforts for globalization and localization in education for the future of our next generations in the new millennium.

Despite growing interest in clusters role for the global competitiveness of firms, there has been little research into how globalization affects cluster‐based firms' (CBFs) use of local knowledge resources and the combination of local and global knowledge used. Using the cluster's knowledge base as a mediating variable, the purpose of this paper is to examine how globalization affected the studied firms' use of local cluster‐based knowledge, integration of local and global knowledge, and networking capabilities.

Qualitative case studies of nine firms in three clusters strongly affected by increasing global division of labour.

The paper suggests that globalization has affected how firms use local resources and combine local and global knowledge. Unexpectedly, clustered firms with explicit procedures and established global fora for exchanging knowledge were highly active in local knowledge use, whereas CBFs characterized by a more implicit knowledge base did not use localized knowledge.

The study is exploratory and covers three clusters in one small and open developed economy. Further corroboration through replicated studies and possibly triangulation with quantitative studies would further develop the understanding on how globalization impacts on the internal organization of CBFs.

For policy makers, cluster policies should be reconsidered if the role of clusters differs from what has been expected so far. From being self‐contained systems which only links to the outside world in the extremities of the local value chain, cluster activities now unfolds in complex production networks around the world, entailing the development and/or integration of clusters in both developing and developed countries.

Several studies have examined the changing role of clusters in the evolving global division of labour. However, research is lacking that addresses the challenges of transformation from the level of the CBF and how these may be affected by cluster evolution. The paper takes a micro‐oriented perspective and focus on clusters in Denmark, a small and mature economy.

Corporate R&D internationalization is today perceived as a strategy intended for enhancing the knowledge of large firms within a highly‐polarized global cognitive space. Two main questions arise and, as such, are incorporated as the two complementary themes of this paper: What are the risks of wasting resources used by multinational firms (MNFs) when they establish or take over laboratories abroad? What strategies do they apply to harmonize relations between their various R&D entities and, as such, help reduce these risks?

The analysis is developed from a base comprising international cases, established within the R&D laboratories of multinational firms.

R&D internationalization strategies generate a great diversity of knowledge. Consequently, these MNFs should develop inter‐entity management skills, for which the paper provides a few of the keys to success.

The factors determining the effectiveness of the articulation of knowledge sharing systems were not really part of any systematic analysis. Such an analysis would have been an opportunity to specifically appraise this.

The approach could indeed improve social interaction‐related issues. The results may greatly add to social interaction theories by attempting, above all, to enhance “sender ‐ receiver” type models, on a MNF network scale.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether knowledge-flows through social interaction occur within the context of a policy-driven industrial cluster.

The paper follows a single-case approach, adopting Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor cluster as the unit of analysis. Semi-structured interviews with firm- and non-firm-respondents in the cluster constitute the prime source of data.

Spontaneous social interaction leading to knowledge diffusion within the cluster may be lacking. However, policymakers may be able to remedy this somewhat by organising workshops, conferences and other events to help firms gain additional knowledge, although these measures should ideally complement, rather than replace, spontaneous face-to-face meetings.

Although policymakers may implement certain measures to try to compensate for the shortage of knowledge flows through social interaction (e.g. organising more “formal” events such as workshops and exhibitions), it is argued that these may not be sufficient in ensuring the long-term, self-sustaining success of the cluster.

The paper integrates extant literature on “organic” industrial clusters into a pre-planned, purpose-built, policy-driven cluster context. Research on policy-driven clusters is somewhat limited, with attention from scholars primarily focused on organic clusters. This paper attempts to bridge the gap for future research in the area.

The purpose of this paper is to examine innovative practices and emphasize the mechanism of knowledge transfer across knowledge boundaries. By comparing and discussing the emerging boundary issues in knowledge transfer among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) registered in the incubation centers in China, this paper identified the main knowledge transfer approach and several contextual and organizational factors impacting knowledge transfer.

The authors conduct 39 semi-structured in-depth interviews with employees working within business incubation centers in China. The study uses thematic analysis for data analysis.

Our results contribute to the literature of knowledge transfer and in particular to our understanding of boundary conditions and knowledge transfer approaches in emerging economies. The results also highlight several contextual and organizational factors which impact knowledge transformation across the pragmatic boundary in the context of China.

First, organizations need to establish an effective process with tools to accommodate novelty; second, organizations should be aware of the impact of entrepreneurial orientation on innovative performance; and third, it will help organizations if they adopt and integrate information-rich media in managing innovative practices.

This research highlights the impact of contextual and organizational factors of SMEs on knowledge transfer in emerging markets and chooses incubation centers as study subjects, which is an organizational context that has not been thoroughly studied due to its unique nature and emerging complexity.