IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jomstd/v61y2024i5p1792-1824.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cross‐Border Knowledge Transfer in the Digital Age: The Final Curtain Call for Long‐Term International Assignments?

Author

Listed:
  • Jana Bucher
  • Benjamin Bader
  • Jürgen Deller

Abstract

Digital technology has altered how multinational companies (MNCs) transfer knowledge across borders. With digital communication media (DCM), knowledge exchange can become more cost‐effective, thereby reducing the need for face‐to‐face exchange. DCM's influence on long‐term international assignment management for cross‐border knowledge transfer remains unclear. Based on 71 interviews with German human resource (HR) managers and subsidiary HR counterparts, we investigated the use of DCM to exchange knowledge across country borders. Exploring these conditions alongside HR managers’ unique perspective on global mobility management prior to and during the global COVID‐19 pandemic, we present two major findings. First, 12 facilitating conditions are necessary for digital knowledge transfer across borders to be accepted as a valuable alternative to long‐term international assignments. Second, we identified individual connections between facilitating conditions and found that five conditions decreased in relevance, while the remaining seven became core aspects of successful digital knowledge transfer during COVID‐19 and possibly beyond.

Suggested Citation

  • Jana Bucher & Benjamin Bader & Jürgen Deller, 2024. "Cross‐Border Knowledge Transfer in the Digital Age: The Final Curtain Call for Long‐Term International Assignments?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(5), pages 1792-1824, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:61:y:2024:i:5:p:1792-1824
    DOI: 10.1111/joms.12971
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12971
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joms.12971?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liu, Yipeng & Meyer, Klaus E., 2020. "Boundary spanners, HRM practices, and reverse knowledge transfer: The case of Chinese cross-border acquisitions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(2).
    2. Kawai, Norifumi & Chung, Chul, 2019. "Expatriate utilization, subsidiary knowledge creation and performance: The moderating role of subsidiary strategic context," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 24-36.
    3. Burmeister, Anne & Lazarova, Mila B. & Deller, Jürgen, 2018. "Repatriate knowledge transfer: Antecedents and boundary conditions of a dyadic process," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(6), pages 806-816.
    4. Mattarelli, Elisa & Tagliaventi, Maria Rita & Carli, Giacomo & Gupta, Amar, 2017. "The Role of Brokers and Social Identities in the Development of Capabilities in Global Virtual Teams," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 382-398.
    5. Nicholas Athanassiou & Douglas Nigh, 2000. "Internationalization, Tacit Knowledge and the Top Management Teams of MNCs," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 31(3), pages 471-487, September.
    6. Gerard George & Karim R. Lakhani & Phanish Puranam, 2020. "What has changed? The Impact of Covid Pandemic on the Technology and Innovation Management Research Agenda," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(8), pages 1754-1758, December.
    7. Anil K. Gupta & Vijay Govindarajan, 2000. "Knowledge flows within multinational corporations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 473-496, April.
    8. Anika Breitenmoser & Benjamin Bader, 2016. "Repatriation outcomes affecting corporate ROI: a critical review and future agenda," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 66(3), pages 195-234, June.
    9. Gabriel Szulanski & Rossella Cappetta & Robert J. Jensen, 2004. "When and How Trustworthiness Matters: Knowledge Transfer and the Moderating Effect of Causal Ambiguity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(5), pages 600-613, October.
    10. J. Piet Hausberg & Kirsten Liere-Netheler & Sven Packmohr & Stefanie Pakura & Kristin Vogelsang, 2019. "Research streams on digital transformation from a holistic business perspective: a systematic literature review and citation network analysis," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(8), pages 931-963, December.
    11. Luo, Yadong & Bu, Juan, 2016. "How valuable is information and communication technology? A study of emerging economy enterprises," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 200-211.
    12. Williams, Christopher & Lee, Soo Hee, 2016. "Knowledge flows in the emerging market MNC: The role of subsidiary HRM practices in Korean MNCs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 233-243.
    13. Caligiuri, Paula & Bonache, Jaime, 2016. "Evolving and enduring challenges in global mobility," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 127-141.
    14. Nambisan, Satish & Wright, Mike & Feldman, Maryann, 2019. "The digital transformation of innovation and entrepreneurship: Progress, challenges and key themes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8), pages 1-1.
    15. Dustin J. Bluhm & Wendy Harman & Thomas W. Lee & Terence R. Mitchell, 2011. "Qualitative Research in Management: A Decade of Progress," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(8), pages 1866-1891, December.
    16. Christopher Wickert & Corinne Post & Jonathan P. Doh & John E. Prescott & Andrea Prencipe, 2021. "Management Research that Makes a Difference: Broadening the Meaning of Impact," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 297-320, March.
    17. Yulin Fang & Guo‐Liang Frank Jiang & Shige Makino & Paul W. Beamish, 2010. "Multinational Firm Knowledge, Use of Expatriates, and Foreign Subsidiary Performance," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 27-54, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fortwengel, Johann & Gutierrez Huerter O, Gabriela & Kostova, Tatiana, 2023. "Three decades of research on practice transfer in multinational firms: Past contributions and future opportunities," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(3).
    2. Heejin Kim & B. Sebastian Reiche & Anne-Wil Harzing, 2022. "How does successive inpatriation contribute to subsidiary capability building and subsidiary evolution? An organizational knowledge creation perspective," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(7), pages 1394-1419, September.
    3. López-Sáez, Pedro & Cruz-González, Jorge & Navas-López, Jose Emilio & Perona-Alfageme, María del Mar, 2021. "Organizational integration mechanisms and knowledge transfer effectiveness in MNCs: The moderating role of cross-national distance," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(4).
    4. Klaus E. Meyer & Chengguang Li & Andreas P. J. Schotter, 0. "Managing the MNE subsidiary: Advancing a multi-level and dynamic research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 0, pages 1-39.
    5. Fabian Jintae Froese & Sebastian Stoermer & B Sebastian Reiche & Sebastian Klar, 2021. "Best of both worlds: How embeddedness fit in the host unit and the headquarters improve repatriate knowledge transfer," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(7), pages 1331-1349, September.
    6. Burmeister, Anne & Lazarova, Mila B. & Deller, Jürgen, 2018. "Repatriate knowledge transfer: Antecedents and boundary conditions of a dyadic process," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(6), pages 806-816.
    7. Dahms, Sven, 2019. "Foreign-owned subsidiary knowledge sourcing: The role of location and expatriates," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 178-188.
    8. Cheong, Adeline & Sandhu, Manjit S. & Edwards, Ronald & Poon, Wai Ching, 2019. "Subsidiary knowledge flow strategies and purpose of expatriate assignments," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 450-462.
    9. Nair, Smitha R. & Demirbag, Mehmet & Mellahi, Kamel, 2016. "Reverse knowledge transfer in emerging market multinationals: The Indian context," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 152-164.
    10. Klaus E. Meyer & Chengguang Li & Andreas P. J. Schotter, 2020. "Managing the MNE subsidiary: Advancing a multi-level and dynamic research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(4), pages 538-576, June.
    11. Marty Reilly & Esther Tippmann & Pamela Sharkey Scott, 2023. "Subsidiary closures and relocations in the multinational enterprise: Reinstating cooperation in subsidiaries to enable knowledge transfer," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(6), pages 997-1026, August.
    12. Xiaohui Liu & Jiangyong Lu & Seong-jin Choi, 2014. "Bridging Knowledge Gaps: Returnees and Reverse Knowledge Spillovers from Chinese Local Firms to Foreign Firms," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 253-276, April.
    13. Nasser Alhamar Alkathiri, 2024. "Determinants of Knowledge Transfer: Expatriate Competencies and Local Staff Absorptive Capacity," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 14360-14378, September.
    14. Bertermann, Britta & Virgillito, Alfredo & Naegele, Gerhard & Wilkesmann, Uwe, 2015. "Werkzeugkasten Wissenstransfer: Entwicklung einer praktischen Handlungshilfe für Betriebs- und Personalräte," Study / edition der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf, volume 127, number 291, December.
    15. Xin Liu & Lin Zhang & Abhinav Gupta & Xiaoming Zheng & Changqi Wu, 2022. "Upper echelons and intra‐organizational learning: How executive narcissism affects knowledge transfer among business units," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(11), pages 2351-2381, November.
    16. Xiaojing Lu & Sebastian Jacques Manuel Boo & Xiaming Liu, 2024. "Is the relationship between institutional distance and subsidiary performance moderated by top management team? Evidence from Chinese multinational enterprises," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    17. Heather Berry, 2017. "Managing valuable knowledge in weak IP protection countries," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(7), pages 787-807, September.
    18. Junshuai Cheng & Qaisar Iqbal & Guangmeng Ji & Weichun Li, 2022. "A Sustainable and Comprehensive Framework for Knowledge Transfer in MNCs: An Empirical Examination Based on Country, Company and Individual Levels of Chinese MNCs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-17, October.
    19. Farah, Bassam & Chakravarty, Dwarka & Dau, Luis & Beamish, Paul W., 2022. "Multinational enterprise parent-subsidiary governance and survival," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(2).
    20. Najafi-Tavani, Zhaleh & Robson, Matthew J. & Zaefarian, Ghasem & Andersson, Ulf & Yu, Chong, 2018. "Building subsidiary local responsiveness: (When) does the directionality of intrafirm knowledge transfers matter?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 475-492.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:61:y:2024:i:5:p:1792-1824. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-2380 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.