IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/abaman/v17y2018i4d10.1057_s41291-018-0041-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The organization of knowledge transfer in the context of Chinese cross-border acquisitions in developed economies

Author

Listed:
  • Timon Immanuel Haasis

    (Justus Liebig University Giessen)

  • Ingo Liefner

    (Leibniz University Hannover)

  • Ritam Garg

    (BAU International Berlin University of Applied Science)

Abstract

This article investigates how Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) organize knowledge transfer through cross-border acquisitions in developed economies, by employing an organizational learning perspective, and investigating Chinese acquisitions in the German industrial sector. Engaging in several activities (e.g., establishment of R&D centers, joint ventures, and staff deployment, etc.), Chinese enterprises ultimately aim for stimulating the interaction between the acquired target and the parent company. Challenging the conventional wisdom, knowledge transfer also happens reciprocally. The absorptive and disseminative capacities of both partners, along with the knowledge characteristics, and the intercultural issues, moderate the effectiveness of knowledge transfer.

Suggested Citation

  • Timon Immanuel Haasis & Ingo Liefner & Ritam Garg, 2018. "The organization of knowledge transfer in the context of Chinese cross-border acquisitions in developed economies," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(4), pages 286-311, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:abaman:v:17:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1057_s41291-018-0041-y
    DOI: 10.1057/s41291-018-0041-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41291-018-0041-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41291-018-0041-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1992. "Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 383-397, August.
    2. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    3. Christian Milelli & Françoise Hay & Yunnan Shi, 2010. "Chinese and Indian firms in Europe: characteristics, impacts and policy implications," International Journal of Emerging Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(3/4), pages 377-397, July.
    4. Dana B. Minbaeva, 2007. "Knowledge transfer in multinational corporations," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 567-593, October.
    5. Michael Berlemann & Vera Jahn, 2016. "Regional Importance of Mittelstand Firms and Innovation Performance," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(11), pages 1819-1833, November.
    6. Grinstein, Yaniv & Hribar, Paul, 2004. "CEO compensation and incentives: Evidence from M&A bonuses," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 119-143, July.
    7. Ikujiro Nonaka, 1994. "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(1), pages 14-37, February.
    8. Deng, Ping, 2009. "Why do Chinese firms tend to acquire strategic assets in international expansion?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 74-84, January.
    9. Yu Zheng, 2016. "Aggressive acquirers, laidback owners? Organisational dynamics of subsidiary integration in Chinese MNCs," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 15(4), pages 317-342, September.
    10. Mohan Subramaniam & N. Venkatraman, 2001. "Determinants of transnational new product development capability: testing the influence of transferring and deploying tacit overseas knowledge," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 359-378, April.
    11. Anil K. Gupta & Vijay Govindarajan, 2000. "Knowledge flows within multinational corporations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 473-496, April.
    12. Jiang, Marshall S. & Branzei, Oana & Xia, Jun, 2016. "DIY: How internationalization shifts the locus of indigenous innovation for Chinese firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(5), pages 662-674.
    13. Françoise Hay & Christian Milelli, 2011. "Chinese and Indian Firms in Europe: Main Characteristics and Presumed Impacts," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Louis Brennan (ed.), The Emergence of Southern Multinationals, chapter 9, pages 151-164, Palgrave Macmillan.
    14. Anderson, John & Sutherland, Dylan & Severe, Sean, 2015. "An event study of home and host country patent generation in Chinese MNEs undertaking strategic asset acquisitions in developed markets," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 758-771.
    15. Wang, Pien & Tong, Tony W. & Koh, Chun Peng, 2004. "An integrated model of knowledge transfer from MNC parent to China subsidiary," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 168-182, May.
    16. Edamura, Kazuma & Haneda, Sho & Inui, Tomohiko & Tan, Xiaofei & Todo, Yasuyuki, 2014. "Impact of Chinese cross-border outbound M&As on firm performance: Econometric analysis using firm-level data," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 169-179.
    17. Yang, Wei & Meyer, Klaus E., 2015. "Competitive dynamics in an emerging economy: Competitive pressures, resources, and the speed of action," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1176-1185.
    18. Paul Shrivastava, 1983. "A Typology Of Organizational Learning Systems," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 7-28, January.
    19. Argote, Linda & Fahrenkopf, Erin, 2016. "Knowledge transfer in organizations: The roles of members, tasks, tools, and networks," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 146-159.
    20. John Child & Suzana B. Rodrigues, 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Firms: A Case for Theoretical Extension?," Management and Organization Review, International Association of Chinese Management Research, vol. 1(3), pages 381-410, November.
    21. Rui, Huaichuan & Zhang, Miao & Shipman, Alan, 2016. "Relevant knowledge and recipient ownership: Chinese MNCS’ knowledge transfer in Africa," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(5), pages 713-728.
    22. Yuefang Si & Ingo Liefner, 2014. "Cognitive Distance and Obstacles to Subsidiary Business Success-The Experience of Chinese Companies in Germany," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 105(3), pages 285-300, July.
    23. Mike W Peng & Denis Y L Wang & Yi Jiang, 2008. "An institution-based view of international business strategy: a focus on emerging economies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(5), pages 920-936, July.
    24. Piero Morosini & Scott Shane & Harbir Singh, 1998. "National Cultural Distance and Cross-Border Acquisition Performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 29(1), pages 137-158, March.
    25. Knoerich, Jan, 2010. "Gaining from the global ambitions of emerging economy enterprises: An analysis of the decision to sell a German firm to a Chinese acquirer," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 177-191, June.
    26. Liu, Xiaohui & Buck, Trevor & Shu, Chang, 2005. "Chinese economic development, the next stage: outward FDI?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 97-115, February.
    27. Zheng, Nan & Wei, Yingqi & Zhang, Yabin & Yang, Jingjing, 2016. "In search of strategic assets through cross-border merger and acquisitions: Evidence from Chinese multinational enterprises in developed economies," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 177-186.
    28. Phanish Puranam & Kannan Srikanth, 2007. "What they know vs. what they do: how acquirers leverage technology acquisitions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(8), pages 805-825, August.
    29. Child, John & Rodrigues, Suzana B., 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Firms: A Case for Theoretical Extension?1," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(3), pages 381-410, November.
    30. Henrik Bresman & Julian Birkinshaw & Robert Nobel, 1999. "Knowledge Transfer in International Acquisitions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(3), pages 439-462, September.
    31. Stephan A. Jansen, 2016. "Mergers & Acquisitions," Springer Books, Springer, edition 6, number 978-3-8349-4772-7, September.
    32. Junni, Paulina, 2011. "Knowledge transfer in acquisitions: Fear of exploitation and contamination," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 307-321, September.
    33. Chen, Victor Zitian & Li, Jing & Shapiro, Daniel M., 2012. "International reverse spillover effects on parent firms: Evidences from emerging-market MNEs in developed markets," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 204-218.
    34. AnnaLee Saxenian & Charles Sabel, 2008. "Roepke Lecture in Economic Geography Venture Capital in the “Periphery”: The New Argonauts, Global Search, and Local Institution Building," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 84(4), pages 379-394, October.
    35. Fu, Xiaolan & Gong, Yundan, 2011. "Indigenous and Foreign Innovation Efforts and Drivers of Technological Upgrading: Evidence from China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1213-1225, July.
    36. Hong Zhu & Qi Zhu, 2016. "Mergers and acquisitions by Chinese firms: A review and comparison with other mergers and acquisitions research in the leading journals," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 1107-1149, December.
    37. Lutao Ning & Dylan Sutherland & Xiaolan Fu, 2017. "Local context and innovation in China," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 16(3), pages 117-129, July.
    38. Buckley, Peter J. & Clegg, Jeremy & Tan, Hui, 2006. "Cultural awareness in knowledge transfer to China--The role of guanxi and mianzi," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 275-288, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eunmi Tatum Lee & Young-Ryeol Park & Jooyoung Kwak, 2023. "Knowledge distance and innovation performance: the moderating role of internationalization breadth and depth," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(3), pages 1131-1154, July.
    2. Laura Rienda & Enrique Claver & Diego Quer & Rosario Andreu, 2019. "Family businesses from emerging markets and choice of entry mode abroad: insights from Indian firms," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(1), pages 6-30, February.
    3. Duan, Yunlong & Deng, Zhiqing & Liu, Hanxiao & Yang, Meng & Liu, Meiwu & Wang, Xiang, 2022. "Exploring the mediating effect of managerial ability on knowledge diversity and innovation performance in reverse cross-border M&As: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing corporations," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    4. Xiaoyun Guang & Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol, 2022. "The effects of cultural intelligence on leadership performance among Chinese expatriates working in Thailand," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(1), pages 106-128, February.
    5. Zheng, Qiuxia & Noorderhaven, Niels & Du, Jian, 2022. "Making the unlikely marriage work: The integration process of Chinese strategic asset-seeking acquisitions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(3).
    6. Liefner, Ingo & Si, Yue-fang & Schäfer, Kerstin, 2019. "A latecomer firm's R&D collaboration with advanced country universities and research institutes: The case of Huawei in Germany," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 86, pages 3-14.
    7. Xuelian Piao & Jon Jungbien Moon, 2019. "When does knowledge similarity help foreign firms improve performance?," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(4), pages 301-323, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qi Ai & Hui Tan, 2018. "The intra-firm knowledge transfer in the outward M&A of EMNCs: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 399-425, June.
    2. Minbaeva, Dana & Park, Chansoo & Vertinsky, Ilan & Cho, Yeon Sung, 2018. "Disseminative capacity and knowledge acquisition from foreign partners in international joint ventures," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 712-724.
    3. Yulin Fang & Guo‐Liang Frank Jiang & Shige Makino & Paul W. Beamish, 2010. "Multinational Firm Knowledge, Use of Expatriates, and Foreign Subsidiary Performance," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 27-54, January.
    4. Fortwengel, Johann & Gutierrez Huerter O, Gabriela & Kostova, Tatiana, 2023. "Three decades of research on practice transfer in multinational firms: Past contributions and future opportunities," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(3).
    5. Zhou, Abby Jingzi & Fey, Carl & Yildiz, H. Emre, 2020. "Fostering integration through HRM practices: An empirical examination of absorptive capacity and knowledge transfer in cross-border M&As," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(2).
    6. Ilan Alon & John Anderson & Ziaul Haque Munim & Alice Ho, 2018. "A review of the internationalization of Chinese enterprises," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 573-605, September.
    7. Su, Cong & Kong, Lingshuang & Ciabuschi, Francesco & Holm, Ulf, 2020. "Demand and willingness for knowledge transfer in springboard subsidiaries of Chinese multinationals," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 297-309.
    8. Thakur-Wernz, Pooja & Cantwell, John & Samant, Shantala, 2019. "Impact of international entry choices on the nature and type of innovation: Evidence from emerging economy firms from the Indian bio-pharmaceutical industry," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1-1.
    9. Vittoria G. Scalera & Debmalya Mukherjee & Lucia Piscitello, 2020. "Ownership strategies in knowledge-intensive cross-border acquisitions: Comparing Chinese and Indian MNEs," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 155-185, March.
    10. Ricardo Rodrigues & Carlos Sampaio & Paulo Duarte & José Manuel Hernández-Mogollón, 2022. "Cross-Border Innovation: Assessing Concepts, Contexts, and Content," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-18, November.
    11. B. Elango & Chinmay Pattnaik, 2011. "Learning Before Making the Big Leap," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 461-481, August.
    12. Huan Zou & Pervez N. Ghauri, 2008. "Learning through international acquisitions: The process of knowledge acquisition in China," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 207-226, April.
    13. Li, Jiatao & Li, Peixin & Wang, Baolian, 2016. "Do cross-border acquisitions create value? Evidence from overseas acquisitions by Chinese firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 471-483.
    14. Li, Xue & Anwar, Sajid & Peng, Fei, 2022. "Cross-border acquisitions and the performance of Chinese publicly listed companies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 575-588.
    15. Ahammad, Mohammad Faisal & Tarba, Shlomo Yedidia & Liu, Yipeng & Glaister, Keith W., 2016. "Knowledge transfer and cross-border acquisition performance: The impact of cultural distance and employee retention," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 66-75.
    16. Lin Cui & Fuming Jiang, 2010. "Behind ownership decision of Chinese outward FDI: Resources and institutions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 751-774, December.
    17. Alessia Amighini & Claudio Cozza & Elisa Giuliani & Roberta Rabellotti & Vittoria Scalera, 2015. "Multinational enterprises from emerging economies: what theories suggest, what evidence shows. A literature review," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(3), pages 343-370, September.
    18. Wang, Chengqi & Hong, Junjie & Kafouros, Mario & Boateng, Agyenim, 2012. "What drives outward FDI of Chinese firms? Testing the explanatory power of three theoretical frameworks," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 425-438.
    19. Maria Adenfelt & Katarina Lagerström, 2008. "The development and sharing of knowledge by Centres of Excellence and transnational teams: A conceptual framework," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 319-338, May.
    20. Michailova, Snejina & Mustaffa, Zaidah, 2012. "Subsidiary knowledge flows in multinational corporations: Research accomplishments, gaps, and opportunities," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 383-396.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:abaman:v:17:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1057_s41291-018-0041-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.