Tapping the power of local knowledge: A local-global interactive perspective

• Main Authors: LI, Shenxue, EASTERBY-SMITH, Mark, LYLES, Majorie A., CLARK, Timothy Adrian Robert
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
• Subjects: Local knowledge; China; Local-global knowledge interaction; Local knowledge disadvantage; Qualitative study; Asian Studies; International Business; Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6266; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/7265/viewcontent/1_s2.0_S1090951616300220_main.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Existing theories of international business and strategy do not fully explain how local knowledge disadvantage faced by foreign investors can be mitigated. We conducted an in-depth qualitative study into four MNCs to investigate the micro-processes of how they generated value from their dispersed sources of local knowledge in China. The results suggest an interactive model: that MNCs employed management processes encompassing three strategically interconnected efforts—global knowledge penetration, local-global knowledge blending, and local-global knowledge integration. The model highlights the interplay between global and local knowledge and challenges extant research that solely focuses on the transfer of either home-based or local knowledge.