International Knowledge Transfer Research Articles

Introduction: International Knowledge Transfer and Circulation within the Brewing Industry

Abstract This special issue follows our conference, which was held in October 2021 and attended by beer historians and sociologists from the U.S., Europe and Australia. By taking beer as a lens to approach questions of knowledge transfer and circulation, we seek to refine our historical understanding of the global entanglements of the beer industry. This is all the more important as to-date the majority of historical beer studies have obscured transnational connections by solely focusing on the nation-state or smaller regional units.

The Legend of Pure Spring Water: The Development of Industrial Water Treatment and its Diffusion through Technology Transfer as the Basis for the Industrialization and Internationalization of Brewing

Abstract By examining the horizontal and vertical, international knowledge and technology transfer of specific industrial water-treatment-technologies, this paper reflects on their interaction with beer production. Against the background of the discrepancy between the importance of narratives on naturalness and originality in relation to brewing water and the industrial mass production in its historicity, an insight into a largely invisible but nevertheless fundamentally important technology will be given.

The Birth of the Scientific Brewer: International Networks and Knowledge Transfer in Central European Beer Brewing, 1794–1895

Abstract Decades before beer brewing transformed into a truly global industry toward the end of the nineteenth century, Central Europe – primarily the Habsburg monarchy and the German states – emerged as a sort of laboratory in which networks were forged, new inventions tested, new beer sorts copied, and in which people, knowledge, and materials traveled back and forth, resulting in an increasing convergence of the trade and a standardization of the product. Since the end of the eighteenth century, Central European beer brewing increasingly relied on technological innovation and scientific knowledge; brewers became an internationally mobile, educated class which formed a loose community with contacts to one another. Following the careers of four Central European brewers, František Ondřej Poupě, Gabriel Sedlmayr senior and his son, Gabriel Sedlmayr junior, and Anton Schwarz, this article demonstrates how the dense network of contacts, the advent of scientific brewing, and the knowledge transfer within the region helped set the stage for the boom of the industry from the 1870s on.

Internal versus external agglomeration advantages in investment location choice: The role of global cities’ international connectivity

AbstractGlobal location choices for foreign direct investments by MNCs aim to benefit both from the advantages of collocation with other activities of the firm (internal agglomeration) and the advantages of proximity to local industry clusters of similar activities (external agglomeration). We submit that there are important trade-offs between internal and external agglomeration because internal knowledge transfer associated with collocation of various value-chain activities of the MNC is confronted with greater risk of knowledge spillovers to rival firms if there is a substantial local cluster. Moreover, we argue that the international connectivity of a location reduces the importance of local agglomeration as a driver of investment location decisions because connectivity allows the MNC to reap benefits from agglomeration at a distance through the (temporary) transfer of people and knowledge. Connectivity changes the trade-offs between internal and external agglomeration because it enhances the spatial reach of internal agglomeration more than external agglomeration. The influence of connectivity is greater for service-related value-chain activities than for production-related activities. We find support for these hypotheses in an analysis of 38,873 greenfield cross-border investment decisions across diverse value-chain activities and industries in 71 global cities, 2008–2016.

Athena – The NSF AI Institute for Edge Computing

AbstractThe National Science Foundation (NSF) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute for Edge Computing Leveraging Next Generation Networks (Athena) seeks to foment a transformation in modern edge computing by advancing AI foundations, computing paradigms, networked computing systems, and edge services and applications from a completely new computing perspective. Led by Duke University, Athena leverages revolutionary developments in computer systems, machine learning, networked computing systems, cyber‐physical systems, and sensing. Members of Athena form a multidisciplinary team from eight universities. Athena organizes its research activities under four interrelated thrusts supporting edge computing: Foundational AI, Computer Systems, Networked Computing Systems, and Services and Applications, which constitute an ambitious and comprehensive research agenda. The research tasks of Athena will focus on developing AI‐driven next‐generation technologies for edge computing and new algorithmic and practical foundations of AI and evaluating the research outcomes through a combination of analytical, experimental, and empirical instruments, especially with target use‐inspired research. The researchers of Athena demonstrate a cohesive effort by synergistically integrating the research outcomes from the four thrusts into three pillars: Edge Computing AI Systems, Collaborative Extended Reality (XR), and Situational Awareness and Autonomy. Athena is committed to a robust and comprehensive suite of educational and workforce development endeavors alongside its domestic and international collaboration and knowledge transfer efforts with external stakeholders that include both industry and community partnerships.

Migration and Innovation: Learning from Patent and Inventor Data

Research on international migration and innovation relies heavily on inventor and patent data, with “migrant inventors” attracting a great deal of attention, especially for what concerns their role in easing the international transfer of knowledge. This hides the fact that many of them move to their host country before starting their inventive career or even before completing their education. We discuss the conceptual and practical difficulties that stand in the way of investigating other likely channels of influence of inventor’s migration on innovation, namely the easing of skill shortages and the increase of variety in inventive teams, firms, and location.

Mapping the landscape of HRM research in higher education: a 40-year review and directions for future research

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyze and map the terrain of human resource management (HRM) in higher education (HE) contexts, with the aim of uncovering potential gaps within the existing knowledge base.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a unique, in-depth bibliometric analysis of 945 publications from the Web of Science database over the past 40 years between 1981 and 2022.FindingsBased on the bibliometric analysis, the authors retrospectively examined the dominant research themes in HRM within the HE sphere, tracing their evolution over time. Four central clusters emerged: the theoretical foundations of HRM, strategic HRM, organizational culture and human capital development. Furthermore, the authors pinpointed critical research gaps and proposed areas for future inquiry, such as the impact of HRM on productivity, leadership dynamics, sustainable growth development, international staffing strategies and knowledge transfer mechanisms.Research limitations/implicationsThis study demonstrates how academics can use bibliometric techniques to systemize literature, expose potential gaps and suggest fruitful lines of inquiry in the field of investigation. The findings of this study can also help improve the decision-making processes of managers and human resource professionals.Originality/valueThis study provides readers with a systematic understanding of the development of HRM in HE settings and presents forward-looking perspectives, highlighting future research possibilities. Moreover, it validates the significance of bibliometric analysis as an efficient technique for discovering gaps in the existing literature.

African returnees in international knowledge transfer: A social capital perspective

In response to the fast growing number of African returnees and the important roles that they play in transferring international knowledge back to the African continent, this qualitative, exploratory study unpacks the role of African returnees in delivering international knowledge obtained from another social context of the Global South through their work and/or study experience, and identifies social factors that facilitate or hinder international knowledge transfer from a social capital perspective. Drawing on qualitative interview data collected from 20 Ghanaian returnees plus an expert interview, observation notes and archival data, we develop an enhanced social capital model in the Global South context. Our model strengthens the understanding of the role of diaspora in international knowledge transfer in general, and that of African returnees in knowledge transfer in the Global South in particular. Specifically, this study offers insights on the interconnections among the three dimensions of social structure (i.e., market relations, social relations and hierarchical relations), African returnees' relations in their social structure, the sources of social capital derived from social relations through opportunity, motivations and ability, and the value created for successful knowledge transfer as a result of the integrative effects of returnees' social capital.

Do export tax rebates promote firm upgrading? Evidences from labor-intensive firms in China

With increasing the low-cost competition in international market, firm upgrading especially for Chinese labor-intensive firms is vital to strengthening their export competitiveness. Using a panel data of Chinese labor-intensive firms for 2001–2013, this paper explores whether export tax rebates (ETR) promote firm upgrading measured by technological sophistication and product quality. Results show that a positively significant effect of ETR on firm upgrading. An increase in ETR rates by 10 % upgrades technological sophistication by 2.3 % and product quality by 2.1 %. Moreover, there exists an inverse-U shaped relationship between the rebate rate and firm upgrading, and the turning point occurs when the rate is at 0.15 for technological sophistication and at 0.13 for product quality. Further mechanism analysis reveals that the internal knowledge creation and international knowledge transfer are two parallel pathways linking ETR and firm upgrading. The effect of ETR on technological sophistication is carried mainly by internal knowledge creation, while international knowledge transfer is more important for upgrading product quality. However, the ETR effects vary across firms with different characters.

Within or across Auditors? Understanding Knowledge Transfer in Audit Production

SYNOPSIS Knowledge transfer affects audit production: it is an underlying reason for specialization premiums and economies of scale. Using measures of client-level comparability to proxy for the internal (within-auditor) and external (across auditors) knowledge transfers that occur during audit production, our results indicate that internal knowledge transfer subsumes external knowledge transfer. Although this result may seem intuitive, recent research implies external knowledge transfer significantly impacts audit efficiency. Thus, the dominance of internal knowledge transfer is important to document. We also provide evidence that the benefits of auditor specialization are not uniform, as typically modeled in the literature. Specifically, we provide evidence that knowledge transfer enhances the efficiencies from auditor specialization. Finally, we find knowledge transfer is associated with greater audit efficiency, irrespective of auditor specialization or industry homogeneity. Overall, our results reaffirm the importance of within-auditor knowledge transfer and highlight the importance of considering client characteristics when examining knowledge transfer. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources listed in the text. JEL Classifications: M41; M42.

The effect of internal knowledge transfer on the relationship between personality traits and employee service performance: a multilevel model

PurposeInternal knowledge transfer is crucial for firms to improve their employees’ abilities and improve their work performance. However, there is still a gap in the knowledge management field regarding whether internal knowledge transfer can leverage employee personality traits and service performance in service-oriented organizations. To address this gap, this study aims to validate a multilevel model of the mediating (i.e. internal knowledge transfer as a mediator) and moderating (i.e. task interdependence as a moderator) mechanisms underlying personality traits and employee service performance.Design/methodology/approachMultilevel structural equation modeling was applied for model validation using an original data set from 45 team leaders and 333 employees working in Chinese hotels.FindingsInternal knowledge transfer mediated the link between extraversion and employee service performance and the link between openness to experience and employee service performance. Task interdependence played a moderating role that strengthened both the impacts of extraversion and openness to experience on internal knowledge transfer.Originality/valueThrough the use of an original data set, this study advances the knowledge management discipline by investigating the mediating impact of internal knowledge transfer between personality traits and employee service performance and revealing the moderating impact of task interdependence that underlies the links between personality traits and internal knowledge transfer.

How Internal Capability Matters in Increasing Firm Performance? An Empirical Analysis of Interfirm Network in Indonesia’s High-Tech Industry using Multi-Mediation Model

This study aims to determine the different effects of the multi-mediating role of innovation capability, foreign ownership, export, and royalty expense in the firm’s network on the performance of Indonesia’s high-tech firms. This study uses data from the high-tech industry with a total sample of 2,578 firms from the Indonesian Central Statistics Agency. The study results prove that there is a positive and significant effect of the Interfirm network on firm performance. The interfirm network also positively and significantly influences Innovation Capability, Export Participation, Foreign Ownership, and Royalty Expense. Innovation capability and foreign ownership as part of internal capability also positively and significantly influence firm performance both directly and as a mediator. However, external capability has a negative influence as shown by exports and royalty expenses on firm performance, either directly or indirectly, as a mediator. Internal capability has an important influence on firm performance compared to external capability. Firms should have internal knowledge transfer rather than depending on the market. Innovation capability has the best mediating role compared to other mediating variables and the best strategy that the firm can do is to implement an interfirm network strategy in maximizing the firm's performance. Thus, the study results provide input to firms in the high-tech industry to optimally utilize their interfirm network to optimize firm performance. Further research is needed to see the effect of each type of industry in the high-tech industry and outside this industry.

International knowledge transfers and capital structure of multinational affiliates: Evidence from expatriate managers as the transfer agents

This study investigates how knowledge transfers within multinational corporations affect the financing decisions of foreign affiliates using a unique dataset on Korean multinationals and their foreign affiliates’ employment structure. We document that affiliates with more expatriate managers tend to maintain lower financial leverage, suggesting that the greater number of expatriate managers facilitate knowledge transfer and increase risk of affiliates. We further show that the negative relation between expatriate managers on affiliate leverage is more pronounced when parents or affiliates own greater intangible assets and host countries have fewer knowledge assets in place. The instrumental variable estimation also confirms the negative relation.

International Knowledge Transfer in subject-oriented didactics. The example of Religious Education

Abstract Can there be international knowledge transfer in subject-related didactics which is not limited to psychological research results which have often been received internationally, and what are the presuppositions of such transfer? The starting point of this article is an international project with consultations and cooperation in the field of religion-related didactics. One of the most important questions in this project refers to the possibility of insights and research results achieved by subject-related didactics for which international validity can be claimed. This question is not limited to empirical research but refers to validity claims in subject-related didactics in general as well as to the more far- reaching question if subject-related didactics can be considered an academic discipline if international validity claims would be excluded. Moreover, the article discusses possible contents of the international knowledge transfer from teacher education. Finally, a number of suggestions for future work in subject- related didactics are offered.

Innovation, Technology, Knowledge Sharing in Agribusiness

International transfer of knowledge is a significant currency in IB. However, the ethical and legal issues that surround the grey area of innovation, technology, and knowledge sharing is seldom addressed in a systemic manner. Using Boisot’s Information Space model in knowledge management, literature review and semi-structured interview with field experts, we constructed a theoretical framework that captures the dynamics of data treatment (exploitation/exclusion), data value (high/ low) and data flow characteristics (undiffused/ highly diffused) of knowledge sharing in a global industry - Agribusiness. Four legal cases are employed to illustrate the respective quadrants’ characteristics. Building on this fundamental framework, further elements and characteristics in knowledge sharing are captured using professional imaginaries and selected dimensions of the technology acceptance model. The resultant framework is useful for management of innovation, data valuation, patenting strategy, knowledge sharing, and further research into technology adoption and knowledge sharing in both agribusiness and other global industries.

Repatriates’ Experience of Identity Strain and Repatriate Knowledge Transfer

While it is common for repatriates to experience identity strain when they return from an international assignment, we know little about how the experience of strain leads to knowledge-related outcomes for repatriates and, by extension, their coworkers. Adopting an identity theory perspective, we conceptualize knowledge transfer as a form of repatriates’ identity enactment in the face of identity strain upon their return. Further, we consider two conditions that determine how repatriates’ experience of identity strain may translate into beneficial knowledge transfer outcomes for repatriates’ colleagues: repatriates’ generalized self-efficacy and colleagues’ trust in repatriates. Drawing on a sample of 118 matched repatriate-colleague responses across five MNCs, we find that repatriates’ level of knowledge transfer with colleagues mediates the relationship between repatriates’ identity strain and colleague perceptions of useful knowledge receipt from repatriates. We also demonstrate that while this mediated relationship is negative at low levels of repatriates’ generalized self-efficacy, it becomes non-significant when generalized self-efficacy is high. Similarly, the mediated relationship is negative at low levels of colleagues’ trust in repatriates, but non-significant at high levels of colleagues’ trust in repatriates. Our study contributes to identity theory and the literatures on international assignments and knowledge transfer in MNCs.

The Mediating Role of Tacit Knowledgel in Knolwedge Recontexualisation by Returnee Entrepreneurs

Recontextualising knowledge is the key to effective knowledge transfer across different business contexts. While knowledge recontextualization has been explored in intra-firm knowledge transfer within multinational enterprises, few studies have extended the concept of knowledge recontextualization to returnee mobility - an effective international knowledge transfer mechanism by returnee entrepreneurs. Using our own surveyed data of 91 Vietnamese returnee entrepreneurs, this study examines under what institutional conditions and individual characteristics returnee entrepreneurs can successfully recontextualize brought back international knowledge and enhance firm performance when operating in their home country. We found that the transfer of tacit knowledge plays an important mediating role to achieve the effective knowledge recontextualization. Keeping home embeddedness while living aboard is critical to help returnees fit back to home country while too much or too little host embeddedness can harm their knowledge recontextualization back to home market.

Knowledge Transfer Speed in Low Carbon Sector: Roles of IJV’s DC and Organizational Relations

Prior studies emphasise parent-IJV knowledge flows and dynamic capabilities to influence the speed of international knowledge transfer. However, the interaction between IJV-local relationships and dynamic capabilities to boost knowledge transfer speed over time are still debated in emerging markets. In this paper, we build on the dynamic capabilities concept and discuss their interplay with IJV’s organisational relationships to understand the changing speed of knowledge transfer in inter-phase and intra-phase perspectives. Based on a longitudinal multiple case study, we undertook two rounds of fieldwork in 2018 and 2020, with 37 informants in 66 semi-structured interviews. Our findings propose the knowledge transfer of IJVs both reside within the outset of the IJV-parent and the IJV-local relationship. IJVs can develop their sensing, assimilation and transformation capabilities by effectively developing and leveraging their relationship with their parents and various local partners to facilitate knowledge transfer speed across absorption, implementation, and innovation phases. To facilitate knowledge transfer speed, sensing capabilities enable IJVs to identify knowledge gaps in learning transferred knowledge and access external knowledge to fill the gaps, while assimilation/transformation capabilities use acquired external knowledge to enhance IJV’s knowledge base through integration or reconfiguration. Overall, the interaction between dynamic capabilities and external knowledge across phases builds a sustainable competitive advantage in operating in the domestic market and approaching international markets.

The West Knows Better? The Evolution of Knowledge Transfer Between a Subsidiary and its Chinese HQ

Taking a longitudinal process view, the study investigates the dynamic evolution of knowledge transfer (KT) between a Chinese multinational enterprise and its acquired European subsidiary. Different from the common view held in the existing studies that reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) from western subsidiaries to Chinse parent is the only possible way, our findings reveal a gradual KT process with four distinctive phases - from the no-KT phase to RKT phase, to the bi-directional KT phase, and ultimately to the knowledge co-creation phase. Each step forward represents a managers’ breaking of the old mindset. Our study sheds light on the high potential of bi-directional KT and knowledge co-creation that has not been well identified and enough discussed in the current literature. Furthermore, another interesting phenomenon is discovered - the whole KT process is initialized by the subsidiary whereby its strategic knowledge-creation role in the whole group and the light-touch integration approach applied by the parent firm provided ample space for its initiatives in KT. Finally, the study contributes to the research of internal knowledge transfer in specific and to the extant M&A literature in general.

Functions of religious education journals and international knowledge transfer

Functions of religious education journals and international knowledge transfer