Not all international assignments are created equal: HQ-subsidiary knowledge transfer patterns across types of assignments and types of knowledge

Article

Duvivier, F., Peeters, C. and Harzing, A. 2019. Not all international assignments are created equal: HQ-subsidiary knowledge transfer patterns across types of assignments and types of knowledge. Journal of World Business. 54 (3), pp. 181-190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2019.02.003
TypeArticle
TitleNot all international assignments are created equal: HQ-subsidiary knowledge transfer patterns across types of assignments and types of knowledge
AuthorsDuvivier, F., Peeters, C. and Harzing, A.
Abstract

Drawing on 50 semi-structured interviews in a case study of a Belgian multinational and its foreign subsidiary in Poland, we develop new insights into how using different types of international assignments (long-term expatriation, short-term expatriation, short-term inpatriation) allows a HQ-subsidiary dyad to transfer different types of knowledge (declarative, procedural, axiomatic, relational), both from and to HQ, during and after the assignment. We show how each type of assignment acts as a unique knowledge transfer channel, and why it is critical that HQ-subsidiary dyads use an appropriate combination and sequence of international assignments reflecting their specific knowledge transfer needs.

KeywordsExpatriation; Inpatriation; Knowledge transfer; Knowledge types; HQ-subsidiary relationships
Research GroupInternational and Cross-cultural Management group
PublisherElsevier
JournalJournal of World Business
ISSN1090-9516
Electronic1878-5573
Publication dates
Online13 Feb 2019
Print01 Apr 2019
Publication process dates
Deposited07 Feb 2019
Accepted05 Feb 2019
Accepted18 Oct 2017
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Restricted
Copyright Statement

© 2019. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2019.02.003
LanguageEnglish
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