Skip to main content

Reconceptualizing Cross-Border Knowledge Acquisition: An Empirical Investigation into Antecedents

  • Chapter
  • 299 Accesses

Part of the book series: The Academy of International Business ((AIB))

Abstract

The growing importance of cross-border knowledge acquisition is recognition that competitive advantage can no longer be solely ascribed to national idiosyncrasies, but rather depends on resources and capabilities exchanged or acquired from international networks (Mathews, 2003; Squire et al., 2009). As the global competition continues to intensify, the acquisition of new organizational knowledge from external sources has become a managerial priority in that it provides the basis for organizational renewal and sustainable competitive advantage (Inkpen, 1998). Research on knowledge acquisition has been burgeoning since the 1990s; yet exploration of such issues within international contexts is a relatively recent phenomenon (Bresman et al., 1999). Indeed, international scholars have acknowledged that the role of management knowledge is a crucial and under-researched phenomenon of globalization (Buckley and Ghauri, 2004).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • E. S. Andersen, Rethinking Project Management: An Organisational Learning Perspective, (Essex: Pearson Education Limited, 2008).

    Google Scholar 

  • L. Argote and P. Ingram, ‘Knowledge transfer: a basis for competitive advantage in firms’, Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 82(1) (2000) 150–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R. P. Bagozzi and Y. Yi, ‘On the evaluation of structural equation models’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16(1) (1988) 74–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. Barney, Jr. D.J. Ketchen and M. Wright, ‘The future of resource-based theory: revitalisation or decline?’, Journal of Management, 37(5) (2011) 1299–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • H. Bresman, J. Birkinshaw and R. Nobel, ‘Knowledge transfer in international acquisitions’, Journal of International Business Studies, 30(3) (1999) 439–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. J. Buckley and P. N. Ghauri, ‘Globalisation, economic geography and the strategy of multinational enterprises’, Journal of International Business Studies, 35(2) (2004) 81–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. C.-H. Chao and V. Kumar, ‘The impact of institutional distance on the international diversity-performance relationship’, Journal of World Business, 45(1) (2010) 93–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • W. W. Chin, ‘How to Write up and Report PLS Analyses’, in V. Esposito Vinzi, W. W. Chin, J. Henseler and H. Wang (eds), Handbook of Partial Least Squares: Concepts, Methods and Applications, (Germany: Springer, 2010), pp. 655–90.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • W. M. Cohen and D. A. Levinthal, ‘Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(1) (1990) 128–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A. S. Cui, D. A. Griffith, S. Cavusgil and M. Dabic, ‘The influence of market and cultural environmental factors on technology transfer between foreign MNCs and local subsidiaries: a Croatian illustration’, Journal of World Business, 41(2) (2006) 100–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. L. Cummings and B.-S. Teng, ‘Transfening R&D knowledge: the key factors affecting knowledge transfer success’, Journal of Engineering Technology Management, 20(1/2) (2003) 39–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A. Dahl and A. Lopez-Claros, ‘The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on the Economic Competitiveness and Social Development of Taiwan’, in S. Dutta, A. Lopez-Claros and I. Mia (eds), The Global Information Technology Report 2005–2006: Leveraging ICT for Development, (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), pp. 107–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • T. K. Das, ‘Deceitful behaviours of alliance partners; potential and prevention’, Management Decision, 43(5) (2005) 706–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S. Dutta and I. Mia (eds), Global Information Technology Report 2010–2011: Transformations 2.0, (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Easterby-Smith, M. A. Lyles and E. W. K. Tsang, ‘Inter-organisational knowledge transfer: cunent themes and future prospects’, Journal of Management Studies, 45(4) (2008) 677–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C. Fornell and F. L. Bookstein ‘Two structural equation models: LISREL and PLS applied to consumer exit-voice theory’, Journal of Marketing Research, 19(4) (1982) 440–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. Friesl, ‘Knowledge acquisition strategies and company performance in young high technology companies’, British Journal of Management, published online 15 March 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • A. S. Gaur and J. W. Lu, ‘Ownership strategies and survival of foreign subsidiaries: impacts of international distance and experience’, Journal of Management, 33(1) (2007) 84–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O. Götz, K. Liehr-Gobbers and M. Krafft ‘Evaluation of Structural Equation Models Using the Partial Least Squares Approach’, in V. Esposito Vinzi, W. W. Chin, J. Henseler and H. Wang (eds), Handbook of Partial Least Squares: Concepts, Methods and Applications, (Germany: Springer, 2010), pp. 691–711.

    Google Scholar 

  • R. M. Grant, ‘The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formulation’, California Management Review, 33 (Spring) (1991) 114–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Gupta and V. Govindarajan, ‘Knowledge flows within multinational corporations’, Strategic Management Journal, 21(4) (2000) 473–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • G. A. C. Guzman and J. Wilson, ‘The “soft” dimension of organisational knowledge transfer’, Journal of Knowledge Management, 9(2) (2005) 59–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. Hulland, ‘Use of partial least squares in strategic management research: a review of four recent studies’, Strategic Management Journal, 20(2) (1999) 195–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. Ingram and B. S. Silverman, The New Institutionalism in Strategic Management: Advances in Strategic Management, (Greenwich: JAI Press, 2002).

    Google Scholar 

  • A. C. Inkpen, ‘Learning and knowledge acquisition through international strategic alliances’, Academy of Management Executive, 12(4) (1998) 69–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • A. C. Inkpen, ‘Learning through joint ventures: a framework of knowledge acquisition’, Journal of Management Studies, 37(7) (2000) 1019–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A. C. Inkpen and P. W. Beamish, ‘Knowledge, bargaining power, and the instability of international joint ventures’, The Academy of Management Review, 22(1) (1997) 177–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Telecommunication Union, Core ICT Indicators, (Geneva, Switzerland: Place des Nations, 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Javidan, G. K. Stahl, F. Brodbeck and C. P. M. Wilderom, ‘Cross-border transfer of knowledge: cultural lessons from project GLOBE’, The Academy of Management Executive, 19(2) (2005) 59–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R.-J. (Bryan) Jean, R. R. Sinkovics and S. T. Cavusgil, ‘Enhancing international customer-supplier relationships through IT resources: a study of Taiwanese electronics suppliers’, Journal of International Business Studies, 41 (2010) 1218–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • W. H. A. Johnson, ‘An integrative taxonomy of intellectual capital: measuring the stock and flow of intellectual capital components in the firm’, International Journal of Technology Management, 18(5/6) (1999) 562–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • K. Joreskog and D. Sorbom, LISREL 8: User’s Reference Guide, (Skokie, IL: Scientific Software International, 1996)

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Kachra and R. E. White, ‘Know-how transfer: the role of social, economic/competitive, and firm boundary factors’, Strategic Management Journal, 29(4) (2008) 425–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. Kale, H. Singh and H. Perlmutter, ‘Learning and protection of proprietary assets in strategic alliances: building relational capital’, Strategic Management Journal, 21(3) (2000) 217–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • E. K. Kelloway Using LISREL for Structural Equation Modelling: A Researcher’s Guide, (London: Sage, 1998).

    Google Scholar 

  • A. W. King and C. P. Zeithaml, ‘Competencies and firm performance: examining the causal ambiguity paradox’, Strategic Management Journal, 22(1) (2001) 75–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R. B. Kline, Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modelling, (London: The Guilford Press, 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  • D-.G. Ko, L. J. Kirsch and W. R. King, ‘Antecedents of knowledge transfer from consultants to clients in enterprise system implementations’, MIS Quarterly, 29(1) (2005) 59–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • B. Kogut and H. Singh, ‘The effect of national culture on the choice of entry mode’, Journal of International Business Studies, 19(3) (1988) 411–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B. Kogut and U. Zander, ‘Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology’, Organisation Science, 3(3) (1992) 383–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • T Kostova, Success of the Transnational Transfer of Organisational Practices within Multinational Companies. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, (University of Minnesota: Minneapolis, 1996).

    Google Scholar 

  • M. M. Kwan and P.-K. Cheung, ‘The knowledge transfer process: from field studies to technology development’, Journal of Database Management, 17(1) (2006) 16–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. J. Lane, B. R. Koka and S. Pathak, ‘The reification of absorptive capacity: a critical review and rejuvenation of the construct’, Academy of Management Review, 31(4) (2006) 833–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C.-L. (Eunice) Liu, P. N. Ghauri and R. R. Sinkovics, ‘Understanding the impact of relational capital and organisational learning on alliance outcomes’, Journal of World Business, 45(3) (2010) 237–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. A. Lyles, ‘The impact of organisational learning on joint venture formations’, International Business Review, 3(4) (1994) 459–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. A. Lyles and J. E. Salk, ‘Knowledge acquisition from foreign parents in international joint ventures’, Journal of International Business Studies, 27(5) (1996) 905–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • I. Martinkenaite, ‘Antecedents and consequences of inter-organisational knowledge transfer: emerging themes and openings for further research’, Baltic Journal of Management, 6(1) (2011) 53–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. A. Mathews, ‘Competitive dynamics and economic learning: an extended resource-based view’, Industrial and Corporate Change, 12(1) (2003) 115–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S. K. McEvily, S. Das and K. McCabe, ‘Avoiding competence substitution through knowledge sharing’, The Academy of Management Review, 25(2) (2000) 294–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Meier, ‘Knowledge management in strategic alliances: a review of empirical evidence’, International Journal of Management Review, 13(1) (2011) 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B. B. Nielsen and S. Nielsen, ‘Learning and innovation in international strategic alliances: an empirical test of the role of trust and tacitness’, Journal of Management Studies, 46(6) (2009) 1031–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B. I. Park, A. Giroud, H. Mirza and J. Whitelock, ‘Knowledge acquisition and performance: the role of foreign partners in Korean IJVs’, Asian Business and Management, 7(2) (2008) 11–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. W. Peng, D. Y. L. Wang and Y. Jiang, ‘An institution-based view of international business strategy: a focus on emerging economies’, Journal of International Business Studies, 39(5) (2008) 920–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • L. Perez-Nordtvedt, B. L. Kedia, D. K. Datta and A. A. Rasheed, ‘Effectiveness and efficiency of cross-border knowledge transfer: an empirical examination’, Journal of Management Studies, 45(4) (2008) 714–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. M. Podsakoff and D.W. Organ, ‘self-reports in organisational research: problems and prospects’, Journal of Management, 12(4) (1986) 531–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. Quintas, P. Lefrere and G. Jones, ‘Knowledge management: a strategic agenda’, Long Range Planning, 30(3) (1997) 385–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. Salk and M. A. Lyles, ‘Gratitude, nostalgia and what now? Knowledge acquisition and learning a decade later’, Journal of International Business Studies, 38(1) (2007) 19–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B. L. Simonin, ‘Transfer of marketing know-how in international strategic alliances: an empirical investigation of the role and antecedents of knowledge ambiguity’, Journal of International Business Studies, 30(3) (1999) 463–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B. L. Simonin, ‘An empirical investigation of the process of knowledge transfer in international strategic alliances’, Journal of International Business Studies, 35(5) (2004) 401–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B. Squire, P. D. Cousins and S. Brown, ‘Cooperation and knowledge transfer within buyer-supplier relationships: the moderating properties of trust, relationship duration and supplier performance’, British Journal of Management, 20(4) (2009) 461–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • G. Szulanski, ‘Exploring internal stickiness: impediments to the transfer of best practices within the firm’, Strategic Management Journal, 17 (1996) 27–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • E. W. K. Tsang, ‘A preliminary typology of learning in international strategic alliances’, Journal of World Business, 34(3) (1999) 211–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • E. W. K. Tsang, D. T. Nguyen and M. K. Erramilli, ‘Knowledge acquisition and performance of international joint ventures in the transition economy of Vietnam’, Journal of International Marketing, 12(2) (2004) 82–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R. Van Wijk, J. J. P. Jansen and M. A. Lyles, ‘Inter-and infra-organisational knowledge transfer: a meta-analytic review and assessment of its antecedents and consequences’, Journal of Management Studies, 45(4) (2008) 830–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. Wiklund and D. Shepherd, ‘Knowledge-based resources, entrepreneurial orientation, and the performance of small and medium-sized businesses’, Strategic Management Journal, 24(13) (2003) 1037–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D. Xu and O. Shenkar, ‘Institutional distance and the multinational enterprise’, Academy of Management Review, 27(4) (2002) 608–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Q. Yang, R. Mudambi and K. E. Meyer, ‘Conventional and reverse knowledge flows in multinational corporations’, Journal of Management, 34(5) (2008) 882–902.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S. A. Zahra and G. George, ‘Absorptive capacity: a review, reconceptualization, and extension’, The Academy of Management Review, 27(2) (2002) 185–203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Z.J. Zhao and J. Anand, ‘A multilevel perspective on knowledge transfer: evidence from the Chinese automotive industry’, Strategic Management Journal, 30(9) (2009) 959–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2013 Mia Hsiao-Wen Ho

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ho, M.HW. (2013). Reconceptualizing Cross-Border Knowledge Acquisition: An Empirical Investigation into Antecedents. In: Cook, G., Johns, J. (eds) The Changing Geography of International Business. The Academy of International Business. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137277503_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics