MNCs and knowledge management: a typology and key features

Purpose – In the literature there is inherent lack of process-oriented, evolutionary perspectives of organizational knowledge as it pertains to international business. To fill this gap, the aim of this paper is to draw on existing theories of the multinational corporation (MNC) and integrate it with knowledge management research to analyze key knowledge management features and dynamics of different types of MNCs. The paper aims at proposing a link between types of MNCs and knowledge management strategies applied by MNCs. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a series of examples from MNCs worldwide to propose a knowledge management based typology of MNCs and to illustrate how they exhibit different strategic dynamics related to knowledge management. Findings – An important stream of literature on MNCs distinguishes between two traditional models for established MNCs, originally described as ethnocentric and polycentric models. A common theme in these studies propose that dramatic changes in the competitive environment has reduced the effectiveness of traditional MNC approaches, highlighting the need to move toward network-based structures. Building on the evolutionary perspective of MNCs, the paper suggests a third type of MNC characterized by a virtual infrastructure based on an e-business model. The paper argues that this type may be more appropriate for organizing managerial activities across organizational and national boundaries in the new web-based knowledge economy. Practical implications – The paper suggests that whereas traditional MNCs invite for management interventions based on centralized economies of information, it makes more sense to manage networked MNCs as integrated learning organizations and e-business based MNCs as boundary-less virtual communities of practice. Originality/value – The paper develops a new typology of multinational corporations based on key features and dynamics related to knowledge management. The paper distinguishes between traditional MNCs, knowledge networks and MNCs as e-businesses. It particularly addresses strategic, technical, organizational and human dimensions of knowledge management and how these differ in the three MNC models.

[1]  Jay Liebowitz,et al.  Knowledge Management Handbook , 1999 .

[2]  P. Rosenzweig.  Managing Acquisitions: Creating Value Through Corporate Renewal , 1991 .

[3]  M. Gordon,et al.  PUBLICATION RECORDS AND TENURE DECISIONS IN THE FIELD OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT , 1996 .

[4]  Carla O'Dell,et al.  If Only We Knew What We Know: Identification and Transfer of Internal Best Practices , 1998 .

[5]  Michel Delapierre and Lynn Krieger Mytelka.  BLURRING BOUNDARIES: NEW INTER-FIRM RELATIONSHIPS AND THE EMERGENCE OF NETWORKED, KNOWLEDGE-BASED OLIGOPOLIES , 1998 .

[6]  J. H. Dyer,et al.  Creating and managing a high‐performance knowledge‐sharing network: the Toyota case , 2000 .

[7]  野中 郁次郎,et al.  The Knowledge-Creating Company: How , 1995 .

[8]  J. Birkinshaw,et al.  Managing knowledge in global service firms: Centers of excellence , 1998 .

[9]  Per Capita,et al.  About the authors , 1995, Machine Vision and Applications.

[10]  Anil K. Gupta,et al.  Knowledge flows within multinational corporations , 2000 .

[11]  Thomas H. Davenport,et al.  Book review:Working knowledge: How organizations manage what they know. Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak. Harvard Business School Press, 1998. $29.95US. ISBN 0‐87584‐655‐6 , 1998 .

[12]  B. Nielsen.  The role of knowledge embeddedness in the creation of synergies in strategic alliances , 2005 .

[13]  Jennifer E. Rowley,et al.  Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach , 2006, J. Documentation.

[14]  P. Drucker.  Post-Capitalist Society , 1993 .

[15]  R. Ruggles.  The State of the Notion: Knowledge Management in Practice , 1998 .

[16]  T. Goh.  Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organisation , 2000 .

[17]  D. Bell.  The Coming of the Post-Industrial Society , 1973 .

[18]  Eric L. Lesser,et al.  Creating value with knowledge : insights from the IBM Institute for Business Value , 2004 .

[19]  M. Gibbons,et al.  Re-Thinking Science: Knowledge and the Public in an Age of Uncertainty , 2003 .

[20]  Mark Hammond,et al.  e-Business Intelligence: Turning Information into Knowledge into Profit , 2000 .

[21]  John Seely Brown,et al.  Book Reviews : The Social Life of Information By John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2000. 320 pages , 2000 .

[22]  J. Spender.  COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FROM TACIT KNOWLEDGE? UNPACKING THE CONCEPT AND ITS STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS. , 1993 .

[23]  Georg von Krogh,et al.  Putting Knowledge Networks into Action: Methodology, Development, Maintenance , 2005 .

[24]  Sylvia P Webb,et al.  Knowledge Management: Linchpin of Change , 1998 .

[25]  Albert H. Segars,et al.  Knowledge Management: An Organizational Capabilities Perspective , 2001, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[26]  Elisabeth Davenport,et al.  Capitalizing on Knowledge: From E-Business to K-Business , 2002, J. Documentation.

[27]  Mae Keary,et al.  Only Connect: Shaping Networks and Knowledge for the New Millennium , 2000 .

[28]  R. Grant.  Toward a Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm,” Strategic Management Journal (17), pp. , 1996 .

[29]  G. Hedlund.  The hypermodern MNC—A heterarchy? , 1986 .

[30]  T. A. Stewart.  Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations , 1997 .

[31]  Georg von Krogh,et al.  Towards knowledge networking , 1999, J. Knowl. Manag..

[32]  Vincent di Norcia.  Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution , 1991 .

[33]  Peter F. Drucker,et al.  The Coming of the New Organization , 2001 .

[34]  Daniel A. Bell,et al.  The Coming Of Post-Industrial Society , 1973 .

[35]  John M. Silvester,et al.  The Social Life of Information: Brown, J.S., & Duguid, P. (2000). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing. ISBN 0-87584-762-5. 320 pages , 2000, Internet High. Educ..

[36]  R. Hill.  The Coming Of Post Industrial Society , 1974 .

[37]  Y. Doz,et al.  The Multinational Mission: Balancing Local Demands and Global Vision , 1999 .

[38]  Will Mitchell,et al.  Bilateral Resource Redeployment and Capabilities Improvement Following Horizontal Acquisitions , 1998 .

[39]  Etienne Wenger,et al.  Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation , 1991 .

[40]  Joanne Roberts.  From Know-how to Show-how? Questioning the Role of Information and Communication Technologies in Knowledge Transfer , 2000 .

[41]  Francesco Ciabuschi,et al.  Siemens ShareNet: Knowledge Management in Practice , 2003 .

[42]  J. Birkinshaw,et al.  Knowledge Transfer in International Acquisitions , 1999 .

[43]  Gilbert Probst,et al.  Managing Knowledge: Building Blocks for Success , 1999 .