Toward a multilevel knowledge transfer paradigm: Acquiring engineering capabilities in the Chinese automotive industry.

详细信息   

• 作者：Zhao ; Zheng Jane.
• 学历：Doctor
• 年：2005
• 导师：Anand, Jaideep
• 毕业院校：University of Michigan
• 专业：Business Administration, Management.;Engineering, Automotive.;Business Administration, General.
• ISBN：0496986538
• CBH：3163981
• Country：USA
• 语种：English
• FileSize：25158449
• Pages：296

文摘

Group-level knowledge is the most valuable yet 'stickiest' element of a firm's capabilities. The effective transfer of group-level knowledge is the key to the success of capability acquisition. Despite its strategic importance, group-level knowledge and its transfer process are still largely under-explored. One of the critical causes for this lack of research is that the traditional knowledge transfer paradigm, assuming a unitary-level perspective on the knowledge transfer outcome and key determinant constructs, does not provide a resolution sharp enough to identify the factors that affect the transfer of group-level knowledge. In this study, I expand the knowledge transfer paradigm from a unitary-level structure into a two-level construction by making conceptual distinctions between the two ontological levels (i.e. individual- vs. group-level) of the key constructs of this paradigm, such as learning strategies, teaching strategies and absorptive capacity. By taking this multilevel perspective, I am able to zoom in on the group-level knowledge content within a firm's capabilities and gain insight into the ways in which group-level knowledge is transferred. Based on prior literatures and my own exploratory fieldwork, I posit that group-level learning is more effective than individual-level learning in transferring group-level knowledge; group-level teaching surpasses individual-level teaching in transferring individual-level knowledge; and group-level absorptive capacity is the only level of absorptive capacity that contributes to the acquisition of group-level knowledge.;I empirically tested my hypotheses by surveying Chinese automotive firms on their efforts and outcomes when acquiring engineering capabilities from various sources. The findings have validated the conceptual distinctions between the two ontological levels of the key constructs and supported most of the hypotheses. The most striking implication of this study is that in the absence of conceptual distinctions between individual- and group-level knowledge transfer strategies and absorptive capacity, most firms have been overly relying on individual-level teaching and learning strategies and individual-level absorptive capacity, which unfortunately are not the most effective methods for transferring group-level knowledge. It is hoped that the theoretical establishment and empirical findings of this study will encourage firms to choose knowledge transfer approaches and build absorptive capacity in a more effective way.