Organizational knowledge transfer within multinational corporations

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a reliable and valid measurement of human resource management (HRM) practices and identify the key dimensions based on evidence of the multinational corporations (MNCs) in China. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between HRM practices and knowledge transfer.Design/methodology/approachThis paper involves a questionnaire survey concerning HRM practices, including employee satisfaction, hedonism, and altruism at the organizational level; training and self‐efficiency at the individual level. A quantitative analysis of the questionnaires is conducted through structural equation modeling in order to indicate the direction and relationship between those constructs.FindingsThe results show a striking effect of organizational commitment and individual attitudes on knowledge transfer performance in MNCs.Originality/valueThis paper suggests that organizational commitment and individual attitudes should be conceptualized as being comprised of HRM practices. Further, the results indicate that both commitment and attitudes are needed to facilitate the transfer of knowledge from other parts of the MNC.