Interpersonal Horizontal Knowledge Sharing in Multinational Enterprises: A Social Identity Perspective
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2021
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| 01front.pdf | contents and abstract | 539.52 kB | |||
| 02whole.pdf | thesis | 3.87 MB |
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The ability of a multinational organisation to share knowledge across its globally dispersed subsidiaries has been described as a competitive advantage. However, an interesting phenomenon is that knowledge is not always successfully shared throughout global operations or among individuals within multinational enterprises (MNEs). This phenomenon may, in part, be attributable to the internal boundaries across the global subsidiaries and the characteristics of individuals in organisations. The phenomenon induces a series of questions associated with the process of how knowledge sharing occurred between individuals located in different countries in an MNE. From a social identity perspective, this research explored interpersonal horizontal knowledge sharing (IHKS) that occurs in MNEs by addressing two questions: 1) What are the characteristics of IHKS in MNEs? and 2) What role does subsidiary employees’ social identity play in IHKS? By exploring these questions, this research responds to calls for attention on horizontal (i.e., inter-subsidiary) knowledge sharing, especially at the individual level in international business.
Exploratory qualitative research is carried out to capture the experiences and perceptions of people about sharing knowledge with their overseas colleagues in an MNE. Data are collected by interviewing 30 participants who work in multinational consulting firms in China. Two themes emerge from the data through thematic analysis. The findings indicate that officially contracted sharing is more effective than the other two modes of IHKS sharing, namely, assigned sharing and informal sharing, when sharing high-value knowledge in IHKS. Furthermore, the social identities of individuals have an impact on knowledge seeking and are also associated with knowledge sources’ different attitudes towards knowledge contribution.
Theoretically, the research contributes to international business by providing a detailed understanding of IHKS in MNEs. Primarily, this research revealed that officially contracted sharing is an effective mechanism of IHKS and highlighted the effect of the cross-border context on the process and characteristics of IHKS. Additionally, this research extends the perspective of social identity in the knowledge sharing literature by suggesting that the combination of IHKS sharing modes and the value of the required knowledge can activate the specific social identity of individuals, which in turn influence their attitudes and behaviour towards responding to IHKS request. Furthermore, the research contributes to the knowledge-sharing literature by enriching our understanding of the diversity of knowledge-sharing attitudes beyond the simplified knowledge-sharing attitudes in a dichotomy of positive and negative. Practically, this research has implications for cultural diversity management.
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