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Identifying Leading-Edge Market Knowledge in Multinational Corporations

In: Knowledge Flows, Governance and the Multinational Enterprise

Author

Listed:
  • Niklas Arvidsson
  • Julian Birkinshaw

Abstract

In his seminal article, ‘The hypermodern MNC - a heterarchy?’ Gunnar Hedlund (1986) argued that one of the distinctive features of the heter-archical multinational corporation (MNC) is its holographic qualities. By this he meant that knowledge about the whole is contained in each part, which is very different from the archetypal hierarchical organization in which each part understands only its only narrowly defined task. Hedlund acknowledged that such holographic qualities were ‘only a theoretical ideal’ (1986: 24) but his argument nonetheless reinforces a critical point: that large MNCs need to become much better at managing the internal flow of knowledge between units, in order to leverage their geographically dispersed capabilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Niklas Arvidsson & Julian Birkinshaw, 2004. "Identifying Leading-Edge Market Knowledge in Multinational Corporations," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Volker Mahnke & Torben Pedersen (ed.), Knowledge Flows, Governance and the Multinational Enterprise, chapter 8, pages 151-176, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-52387-6_8
    DOI: 10.1057/9780230523876_8
    as

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