The Effects of Experience on Knowledge Translation Process in Internationalization of Firms

Abstract

Transfer of knowledge between countries and/or markets is common for firms that do international business. This is often resource consuming because knowledge is often tied in with a specific context. To accomplish transfer, knowledge therefore has to be modified and developed as it is transferred from one context to another. Previous research about knowledge transfer has shown that the characteristics of knowledge, for instance its degree of tacitness, are critical to the transfer process. However, little attention has been paid to the process whereby knowledge is modified and adapted as it is transferred from one context to another. To represent this process, we develop the concept of knowledge translation, which emphasizes the modification and adaptation of knowledge in light of the experience of firms. The role of experience and its antecedents in the knowledge translation process was tested by quantitative data from 4 countries, Sweden, Denmark, Korea, and New Zealand, with the LISREL method. The results show that a firms international experience and its international size significantly affect knowledge translation.