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A formal analysis of knowledge combination in multinational enterprises

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Abstract

This paper outlines a model of process organisation for the combination of different types of knowledge from spatially separated sources in the multinational enterprise. The model envisages an initiator-entrepreneur as the motor of the process, and identifies regularities in the types of knowledge combination within the firm that provide additional value. Knowledge losses, decision losses and coordination losses are imperfections in the process, and result in barriers to the effective combination of knowledge. Strategies of combination are of three types – additive, sequential and complex – implying different types of control outcomes.

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Acknowledgements

This research was conducted with the help of financial support from the Carnegie Bosch Institute for Applied Studies in International Management, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. We are grateful to three anonymous referees and the editor of this Special Issue for their insightful and supportive comments.

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Correspondence to Peter J Buckley.

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Accepted by Nicolas Foss and Torben Pedersen 17 February 2004. This paper has been with the author for one revision.

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Buckley, P., Carter, M. A formal analysis of knowledge combination in multinational enterprises. J Int Bus Stud 35, 371–384 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400095

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400095

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