Strategic Knowledge Creation in Multinational Enterprises

Lars Håkanson, Philip Kappen, Ivo Zander

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Unique knowledge and proprietary innovations are key to the competitive advantages on which most multinational enterprises (MNEs) are expected to base their initial international expansion. Moreover, their subsequent fortunes and survival typically depend on MNEs’ continued ability to upgrade and renew these advantages, as competition, imitation, and environmental change erode the value of existing ones. This chapter reviews key literatures around the nature, management, and effects of knowledge creation in MNEs. The chapter centers on the processes through which geographical patterns of international R&D have evolved, along with the structures, systems, and procedures through which MNEs have sought to govern and coordinate these activities. Finally, the chapter offers a summary and critique of the way that much of the inherited literature has portrayed and interpreted the strategic knowledge creation process in MNEs.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Oxford Handbook of International Business Strategy
EditorsKamel Mellahi, Klaus Meyer, Rajneesh Narula, Irina Surdu, Alain Verbeke
Number of pages27
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherOxford University Press
Publication date2021
Pages109-135
Chapter6
ISBN (Print)9780198868378
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • MNE knowledge creation
  • MNE innovation
  • R&D internationalization
  • R&D location choices
  • Network models
  • MNE evolution
  • European firms
  • US firms
  • Japanese firms

Cite this