Session Summary

Session Number:266
Session ID:S163
Session Title:Social Capital and Knowledge Transfer in the Multinational Enterprise
Short Title:MNCs and Knowledge Transfer
Session Type:Division Joint Symposium
Hotel:Hyatt East
Floor:LL2
Room:Columbus E/F
Time:Wednesday, August 11, 1999 12:20 PM - 2:10 PM

Sponsors

BPS  (Ming-Jer Chen)BPS99@wharton.upenn.edu (215) 898-0018 
IM  (Farok Contractor)farok@andromeda.rutgers.edu (973) 353-5348 

General People

Chair Golden, Brian  U. of Western Ontario bgolden@ivey.uwo.edu (519) 661-4178 
Chair Kostova, Tatiana  U. of South Carolina kostova@darla.badm.sc.edu (612) 624-5590 
Discussant Argote, Linda  Carnegie Mellon U.   
Presenter Frost, Anthony  U. of Western Ontario, Ivey School of Business tfrost@ivey.uwo.ca (519)-661-4178 
Presenter McEvily, Bill  Carnegie Mellon U. bmcevily@andrew.cmu.edu (412) 268-4198 
Presenter Kostova, Tatiana  U. of South Carolina kostova@darla.badm.sc.edu (612) 624-5590 
Presenter Nebus, James F. U. of South Carolina jim.nebus@columbiasc.ncr.com (803)-939-6317 

Submissions

Abstract

The motivation for this symposium is to extend theory and empirical research on effective knowledge transfer in multinational enterprises. The ability to efficiently create and integrate knowledge on a worldwide basis represents a key source of organizational advantage for those firms able to realize this potential. However, in the multinational context effective knowledge transfer has proven difficult due to cultural differences and separations of time and distance. This symposium explores the role of social capital in facilitating the transfer of knowledge in multinational enterprises. The overriding premise behind the papers in this symposium is that social interaction among organizational members is a critical vehicle for knowledge generation and dissemination. Central to understanding the ability of firms to create and share knowledge worldwide is an appreciation of the social context within which knowledge transfer is embedded. Social capital theory emphasizes that relationships, like other forms of capital, represent a set of resources for creating value. This symposium is dedicated toward understanding how the nature of relationships in multinational enterprises can generate value in the form of knowledge creation and transfer. The first half of the symposium addresses how social capital influences the flow of knowledge in multinational enterprises and how different dimensions of social capital affect knowledge transfer among international teams. The second half of the symposium then explores the sources of different forms of social capital (relational and network) in multinational enterprises.