Expatriates' personal attributes and knowledge acquisition in brownfield IJVs: the case of CJ LION in Korea

Abstract

International joint ventures (IJVs) are increasingly provoked as a predominant mode replacing the traditional market entry strategy because it is a vehicle to multi-directionally exchange invaluable complementary knowledge between multinational corporations (MNCs) and local firms through their subsidiaries (i.e., IJVs). However, although IJVs are multifaceted phenomenon, researchers often look at IJVs' fragmentary aspect by focusing on only greenfield type of collaborative formations and overlooking the brownfield type of entities. In particular, expatriates in brownfield type of IJVs (BIJVs) are often referred to be a key actor for their knowledge exchange activities. In this vein, this paper attempts to examine the effects of expatriates' personal attributes (EPAs) promoting the knowledge transfer capacity of MNCs. Through a case-study on CJ LION, we empirically find that willingness to communicate and possession of prior-related job/local market knowledge are proven to be effective in knowledge acquisition of host country nationals (HCNs). Our findings contribute to better understand knowledge transfer capacity of MNCs as a theoretical concept, and also provide invaluable and practical implications for MNCs that plan to invest in emerging markets.