Knowledge Transfer from International Consultants to Local Partners

Abstract

Inspired by the fact that local partners acquire substantial knowledge from foreign consultants, an empirical study has been conducted on four metro construction projects in Vietnam to assess the knowledge transfer in practice. The process and results have been recorded in this article. A two-stage model has been developed and tested by using data obtained from 130 respondents. The first stage demonstrates that there are at least six factors affecting the knowledge transfer from foreign consultants to local partners. The second stage shows that acquired knowledge helps to improve the performance of the local partners. In addition to well-known determinants such as the transferor's willingness, capacity to transfer, the learner's intent and capability to learn, the results of the study provide the evidence to confirm the important roles of knowledge-related factors and environment-related factors. Furthermore, this study enriches the literature on knowledge transfer by adding a look into a specific context of consulting services.