Trust, Knowledge Transfer and Control in IJVs: The Case of Four Greek Firms

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to investigate specific factors and their impact on the development of trust and on knowledge transfer success in International Joint Ventures (IJVs) with at least one Greek partner. We further expand our previous work and argue that the type of knowledge (tacit/explicit) and the proper control mechanism play an important role for the creation of trust between partners and affect knowledge transfer success. Four, in depth interviews with presidents/CEOs of Greek companies with IJV participation, were conducted. Overall, they consider the transfer of knowledge from their companies to the IJVs as very successful. The results indicate that tacit knowledge is considered to be one of the major strengths of the Greek companies and among their most important contributions to the IJVs. Furthermore, tacit knowledge and trust were revealed as key factors to IJV success. Finally, our findings reveal that formal and clear control mechanisms are positively related to the development of trust when they are established at the initial stages of the IJV establishment.