Mobilising knowledge transfer activities in virtual organisations

Firms have to manage their knowledge-base by mobilising a wider array of "technological capabilities" than ever previously. This paper highlights the challenges of intra-firm technology transfer faced by companies that have multiple plants in different countries and serve different national markets. Here, the role of a "virtual organisation" is studied, which has become commonplace in many MNCs, due to the demands in the market place and the dispersion of centres of innovation. Empirical research findings are reported from case studies conducted with managers at the UK multinational firm BICC Cables to illustrate the challenge of managing technological knowledge transfer, particularly in the context of high-tech companies. This research demonstrated that pre-transfer planning is often inadequate or neglected, as are formal managerial processes and end customer marketing input into the knowledge transfer processes.