Implementing global virtual teams to enhance cross-border transfer of knowledge in multinational enterprises: a resource-based view

摘要

Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) face major impediments to transferring firm-specific advantages given their relatively low capacity to absorb knowledge from internationally dispersed units. In a world where workers' expertise is increasingly internationally distributed, global virtual teams hold the promise of enabling geographically, temporarily and functionally dispersed groups to overcome distance and time barriers with the use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). This study offers a theoretical framework that explains the potential benefits of global virtual teams to MNEs by explicitly examining the effects of technology, demographic dissimilarity and absorptive capacity on the cross-border transfer of knowledge in MNEs. It also presents a set of propositions distilled from empirical evidence and theoretical considerations to guide future research in this area.