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Knowledge Transfer Within Multinationals and Their Foreign Subsidiaries: A Culture-Context Approach
Nurit Zaidman*
and
David M. Brock
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: zeidman{at}bgu.ac.il.
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Abstract |
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The authors’ research introduces a culturesensitive approach to the analysis of knowledge transfer in multinational organizations. This article investigates the knowledge itself, how knowledge is represented, and its flow within social structures. The analysis considers forms of knowledge transfer as cultural products, and their interaction with the populations involved. Sociocultural structures as well as specific cultural characteristics of the populations are analyzed in reference to knowledge transfer as well as the interaction between the relevant contexts. Data were collected in two multinational Israeli software development companies and their affiliates in India. The analyses included various qualitative analyses of 96 interviews, informal discussions, documents, including instant messaging chats and observations. The authors show, for example, how the influences of contemporary professional work norms as well as customary behavior from the national context combine to influence who talks to whom, what kind of information is transferred, and the extent to which people of disparate status and background are willing to share.
First published on March 19, 2009, doi:10.1177/1059601108330062
Group & Organization Management 2009;34:297.
A more recent version of this article appeared on June 1, 2009
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