MNC affiliation, knowledge bases and involvement in global innovation networks

Innovation collaboration is subjected to partner search and selection constraints. These constraints are reinforced by geographical distance, and mediated by privileged information accessed through pre-existing formal and informal ties to foreign business contexts. Multinational corporations may therefore influence the collaborative linkages maintained by their affiliates abroad, outside the group network. This paper shows that the sensitivity of foreign collaboration to resources provided by the parent group is dependent on whether affiliates of the multinational are engaged in developing cross-disciplinary, application-specific technological knowledge with a strong tacit content (e.g. systems engineering), knowledge with a strong aesthetic of cultural content (e.g. media or fashion) or knowledge dominated by specific scientific disciplines (e.g. biotechnology).