Transfer of Marketing Know-How in International Strategic Alliances: An Empirical Investigation of the Role and Antecede
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of
Marketing
International Empirical
of
Knowledge
of
in
Alliances:
Strategic
Investigation
Antecedents
Know-How
the
Role
An and
Ambiguity BernardL. Simonin*
THE FLETCHER SCHOOL, TUFTS UNIVERSITY
The competitive nature of knowledge transfer and the process of organizational learning between partners constitute a fundamental challenge for both academics and practitioners alike. By focusing on one type of - marketing knowcompetency how - this research examines the
role of knowledge ambiguity to the process of pertaining knowledge transfer in international strategic alliances. Based on a cross-sectional sample of 151 multinationals and a structural equation methodology, this study empirically investigates the antecedents of knowledge ambiguity: tacitness, asset specificity, complexity, experience, partner
protectiveness, cultural distance, and organizational distance. Further, the strength of the relationships between these theoretical constructs and ambiguity is examined in light of the possible moderating effects of collaborative experience, firm size, and the duration of the alliance entered. Consistently, tacitness emerges as the most significant determinant of knowledge transferability. Moreover, the effects of cultural distance, asset specificity, and prior experience are moderated respectively by the firm's level of collaborative experience, the duration of the alliance, and the firm's size.
L. Simonin is Associate Professor of Marketing and International Business at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. His research interests include international alliances, symbiotic marketing, market orientation, learning organizations and knowledge management.
*Bernard
The author would like to thank Richard Bagozzi, Joyce Erickson, Tom Roehl, Julie Ruth, Vern Terpstra, and the three anonymous referees. This research was partially supported by a grant from the Center for International Business Education (CIBE) at the University of Michigan. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES, 30, 3 (THIRD QUARTER 1999): 463-490.
463
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TRANSFEROF MARKETINGKNOW-HOWIN INTERNATIONAL STRATEGICALLIANCES
This research examines the central Irole played by knowledge ambiguity (Reed and DeFillippi [1990]) as it relates to the process of knowledge transfer in international strategic alliances. By focusing on one particular type of competency - marketing know-how -, this
study departs from past research that has traditionally focused on technology and other technical knowledge transfers. With only a few exceptions dealing with local market knowledge [Inkpen and Beamish 1997; Makino and Delios
1996],
marketing
skills
and
know-how have yet to receive proper conceptual and empirical attention as a competency source of competitive advantage that can be transferredacross alliance partners. Indeed, the strategic significance of marketing know-how
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