Factors Affecting Transferring Host-Country-Specific Knowledge in Business Groups

摘要

This paper addresses knowledge sharing in business groups by identifying factors that affect how business groups from an emerging economy transfer hostcountry-specific knowledge among their group members. Based on in-depth case studies of three business groups in Taiwan, we find that subsidiary autonomy is positively correlated to the reliance on formal mechanisms to transfer host-country-specific knowledge among member firms by headquarters and regional management centers in a host country substitute the role of headquarters in transferring knowledge. For knowledge with tacitness, in addition to social interaction to facilitate the transfer of knowledge embedded in persons, it is necessary to transfer documented knowledge through the use of information technology initially. Product differences and technology gap also affect how headquarters rely on formal mechanisms in transferring knowledge among member firms. Testable propositions are offered in the paper.