Reverse knowledge transfer and its implications for European policy

An imbalance exists in almost any type of knowledge and technology transfer due to the information asymmetry of the relationship. However, this is especially the case for reverse technology and knowledge transfer which is epitomised for us by transfers from an MNC's subsidiary to its headquarters. This paper builds on the few pieces of research in the area of reverse knowledge transfer and, by integrating the cognitive barriers to reverse knowledge transfer produces a conceptualisation which emphasises the importance of informal mechanisms such as social networks. This establishes a theoretical framework for the investigation of barriers to successful reverse knowledge transfer including failure of psychological contracts, perceived lack of procedural justice, a lack of intrinsic motivation, psychic distance and liability of foreignness.

PurposeThis study aims to synthesize extant literature on the concept of reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) built up over the past two decades with the help of bibliometric analyssis and also to suggest promising new areas for research in this field.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a literature review methodology combined with bibliometric and network analysis based on 117 papers identified from the Scopus database. In particular, this study has tried to identify and capture themes not previously fully captured or evaluated by other reviews on this topic.FindingsThe authors have identified research themes and research gaps in the area of RKT. Overall, the review shows the main outlets that have published papers on RKT and the theoretical background this research is built on. This study exhibits core themes in this area that have persisted and grown consistently such as the subsidiary’s role in RKT. In addition, the review highlights less researched themes such as role of boundary spanning in RKT, which open exciting avenues for new research opportunities.Research limitations/implicationsThis study finds that RKT research has experienced remarkable growth from a complete viewpoint in recent years. There was a surge in publications in the area from 2008 onwards, and many of its influential papers seemed to have been published between 2013 and 2018. Prominent themes in this body of research have been identified and potential for future studies has been explored.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to map, synthesize and discuss the literature concerning RKT.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to provide a holistic view of how the different dimensions of absorptive capacity (AC) impact reverse knowledge transfer (RKT). Although the importance of AC has been realized in knowledge and RKT literature, scholars have hardly explored the differentiated importance of each component of AC. When knowledge leads to competitive advantage, understanding the differentiated contribution will help enhance the impact of AC on RKT. This becomes even more important for emerging economy multinationals (EMNCs), which struggle in the global market and suffer from various liabilities. Therefore, this study focuses on the multidimensional impact of AC on RKT from Indian multinational subsidiaries based in developed nations to their parent firm.Design/methodology/approachThis study is a quantitative study. The authors tested the research model using a structural equation modeling design based on survey data collected from subsidiaries (in developed economies) of Indian multinationals.FindingsThe results show that acquisition, assimilation and transformation components of AC have positive impact on RKT. However, the authors found that the exploitation dimension has no impact on RKT.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, the research design is original and this is the first study on the impact of all components of AC on RKT. AC is one of the most widely researched variables in knowledge literature, including different versions of Zahra and George’s concept of AC. However, its impact has not been explored much in RKT literature. This study addresses this gap and extends the literature on AC and RKT. The advantages of this study can be seen at the team and organization level.

Although MNCs are increasingly globalizing their R&D, we have an incomplete and inconsistent understanding of whether, and under what conditions, the knowledge accumulated from foreign R&D centers can improve the productivity of the parent firm. We address this issue by examining the factors that influence the extent to which reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) enhances the productivity of the MNC at home. Our contribution lies in showing that the productivity benefits of RKT depend on the idiosyncratic characteristics of MNCs' parent and R&D affiliates. We show that RKT has a stronger effect on the productivity of the parent MNC when foreign R&D units are charged with a knowledge seeking role. These effects further increase when R&D affiliates are well embedded in host countries. Surprisingly, the productivity enhancing effects of RKT do not differ across acquired and greenfield affiliates.

Increasingly, the geographically dispersed subsidiaries begin to transfer knowledge to their headquarters. Meanwhile, more and more China’s companies go abroad and also face the problems of reverse knowledge transfer (RKT). Therefore, this paper explores the mechanism of RKT from the subsidiaries abroad to the parent companies at home. Based on the balanced scorecard (BSC), this paper presents the objects and variables in the perspective of financial, customer, internal business and innovation and learning in order to make the RKT process more successfully.

Reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) is essential for multinational corporations to benefit from employees' international experience, but repatriates often face difficulties in transferring knowledge gained abroad. Drawing on transposition theory, this study examines how pre‐expatriation embeddedness and host organization exposure shape RKT outcomes, and how the presence of peer repatriates moderates these relationships. We conceptualize repatriates as change agents who seek to translate, adapt, and legitimize external knowledge within their home organizations through processes of disembedding, recontextualization, and implementing new practices. Using survey data from 177 South Korean repatriates, we find that pre‐expatriation embeddedness and host organization exposure both positively affect RKT, and that peer repatriates strengthen the effect of embeddedness but not exposure. These results advance the understanding of RKT by highlighting the importance of conditions established before expatriation, and they apply transposition theory to identify the mechanisms of legitimacy and adaptation that enable contextual translation.

Germany: Rowa Lack – pigment preparations in PMMA & PVC

Reverse knowledge transfer in emerging market multinationals: The Indian context

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of how different forms of digital technologies (i.e. digital communication technologies [DCTs] and digital in situ technologies [DSTs]) have varying effects on subsidiaries’ capacities to engage in reverse knowledge transfer (i.e. the flow of knowledge from subsidiaries to headquarters). Design/methodology/approach The increasing accessibility and sophistication of digital technologies has prompted growing interest in their implications for how multinational corporations (MNCs) organize value-adding activities. This conceptual paper argues that existing international business research has tended to treat digitalization as a uniform process. In contrast, the authors distinguish between DCTs and DSTs, each of which introduces distinct organizational dynamics. Findings This study develops a theoretical argument suggesting that the type of digital technologies adopted by MNCs configures value-adding activities in ways shaped by opposing forces, namely, centrifugal and centripetal tendencies. These opposing dynamics contribute to variation in subsidiaries’ capacity to generate and disseminate knowledge. To explain this heterogeneity, this study proposes a framework and a set of propositions that predict the effects of different digital technologies on the dimensions of disseminative capacity (i.e. ability, willingness and opportunity). Practical implications Headquarters’ adoption of specific forms of digital technologies can influence subsidiaries’ action in disseminating knowledge. The conceptual discussion in this paper can benefit managers by clarifying the consequences of adopting different forms of digital technologies to mobilize and leverage MNCs’ globally dispersed knowledge base. Originality/value This paper offers a more fine-tuned perspective on digitalization and its effects on knowledge management in multinational firms. By rejecting the treatment of digitalization as a uniform phenomenon, it provides a stronger theoretical foundation for future empirical work on the strategic management of digital transformation in global contexts.

Expatriates managers’ cultural intelligence as promoter of knowledge transfer in multinational companies

Reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) is an important way for multinational enterprises (MNEs) to obtain knowledge resources from overseas host countries and sustain competitive advantage. For the dynamic process of RKT in MNEs, this paper builds the network evolutionary game model of RKT and makes simulation analysis of dynamic process to explore the operation mechanism about RKT. Results show that the signal transmission noise has great influence on the adaptation and renewal of parent and subsidiaries’ game strategy. There are separated characteristics about the influence of parent and subsidiaries’ unit cost and subsidiaries’ effort cost on the steady state’s realization speed of parent and subsidiaries’ positive strategies, and there is an optimal range for the influence on parent’s effort cost. The signal transmission and the strategy imitation of game strategy among subsidiaries strongly rely on the carrier network structure.

Impact of Organizational Culture on Reverse Knowledge Transfer: Synthesising the Parts

American Multinationals and American Economic Interests: New Dimensions to an Old Debate

One consequence of the internationalisation of R&D, particularly in high-tech sectors such as chemicals and pharmaceuticals, may be the transfer of foreign technology from the multinational to other firms in its home country. This phenomenon, which may be termed inter-firm reverse technology transfer, has not yet been directly analysed by either the international management literature or the literature on foreign direct investment. But its implications for policy ' particularly in Europe ' may be significant. Drawing on the evolutionary theory of the multinational, and on the concept of embeddedness, this paper is a first attempt at addressing this issue. We test the hypothesis of inter-firm reverse technology transfer by performing a patent citation analysis on a database of USPTO patents applied for by 29 chemical and pharmaceutical companies over the period 1980-99. Our findings suggest that multinationals, especially in the pharmaceutical sector, act as a channel for the transmission of knowledge developed abroad to other home country firms. These results point to an alternative understanding of foreign direct R&D investment and its implications for both the home country's technological activity, and its competitive performance in general.

The impact of reverse knowledge transfers on exploitative and exploratory innovations in MNCs: The role of knowledge distance