Repatriation and Cross Border Transfer of Knowledge
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2022
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| 01front.pdf | contents and abstract | 341.23 kB | |||
| 02whole.pdf | thesis | 3.08 MB |
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This doctoral thesis focused on the repatriation of international assignees in the final phase of their international assignments in multinational enterprises (MNEs). This project began with a systematic literature review of the repatriation of organisation-assigned expatriates. Next, the direct and indirect influence of perceived organisational support on repatriate knowledge transfer (RKT) were explored by examining individual knowledge-sharing and knowledge-receiving behaviours.
One of the key themes in the repatriation literature review highlights the significance of repatriate knowledge for MNEs. Therefore, the study examined ‘knowledge transfer upon repatriation’ using quantitative research methods. First, the characteristics of knowledge acquired by repatriates were examined using the knowledge-based view (KBV) of the firm. Second, the direct effect of perceived organisational support practices and the indirect effect of disseminative capacity, absorptive capacity and the opportunity for interaction were tested using the individual ability–motivation–opportunity (AMO) framework.
Data were collected from 123 repatriates in MNEs using a self-administered online survey to examine RKT. Data collection techniques were based on exploratory factor analysis, demographic analysis, descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, and multiple regression analysis (using linear regression and PROCESS macro in SPSS). The findings highlight that repatriates’ knowledge—explicit (declarative knowledge) or tacit (procedural, axiomatic and relational knowledge)—is transferred without the influence of perceived support practices. When knowledge has both tacit and explicit attributes (e.g., conditional knowledge with attributes of declarative and procedural knowledge), perceived organisational support practices strengthened the effect. Moreover, repatriates’ perceived organisational support practices are a significant, direct predictor of RKT, and the relationship is partially mediated by disseminative capacity and interaction opportunity. However, repatriates’ perceived absorptive capacity of knowledge recipients did not mediate the positive relationship between organisational support practices and RKT. Therefore, it extends the AMO framework from the context of repatriation as the findings support repatriates’ ability and motivation of repatriated employees to transfer knowledge.
The thesis contributes to the repatriation and knowledge management literature by consolidating the repatriation literature specific to organisation-assigned expatriates. The study also provides the first empirical examination of the five characteristics of tacit and explicit knowledge of individual expatriates. The direct and indirect effects of repatriates’ perceptions of organisational support practices on RKT were tested, and extended the KBV of the firm in the repatriation context. Finally, the study extends quantitative research on RKT by empirically testing its antecedents, including the mediating and moderating effects involved in RKT. These results advance repatriate knowledge management and transfer research.
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