Reverse knowledge transfer and subsidiary power

Abstract

Rather than looking at the more typical inter-company level adopted in most B2B marketing, this study investigates how a subsidiary gains power within the context of the multinational corporation. Building on network theory and dependence theory, two approaches well-known in the B2B marketing literature, this study aims to test empirically the impact of reverse knowledge transfer, knowledge transfer from a subsidiary to headquarters, on subsidiary influence and autonomy. The survey-based data from 183 subsidiaries located in the UK suggests that reverse knowledge transfer significantly enhances the relative influence of the subsidiary within the broader multinational corporation. Moreover, we find that this association is (a) stronger when the level of internal embeddedness is high and (b) weaker when the level of external embeddedness is high. Finally, our results indicate that a higher level of subsidiary autonomy only occurs in conjunction with internally embedded reverse knowledge transfer.