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Knowledge Management in the MNC (June 2009)

Faculty
Ulf Andersson (UA), Professor; Torben Pedersen (TP), Professor; Bent Petersen (BP), Professor, Center for Strategic Management & Globalization (SMG), Copenhagen Business School; Ram Mudambi (RM), Professor and Perelman Senior Research Fellow, Fox School of Business, Temple University
Course Coordinator
Ram Mudambi (RM), Professor and Perelman Senior Research Fellow, Fox School of Business, Temple University
Aim of the course
This seminar examines critical issues involved in the strategic management of innovation in both existing and emerging firms. Globalization and rapid technological change have combined to make the management of knowledge and change critical components of strategic management. Accordingly, researchers are increasingly concerned with understanding the processes of innovation, knowledge generation and management, learning, and economic disequilibrium – and their effects on firm formation and performance. This research encompasses two distinct economic processes, namely the creation of value and the appropriation of value
Lecture plan
Time/period    Faculty    Title   
Day 1    RM    The nature of commercial knowledge   
    TP    Global sourcing of knowledge    
Day 2    RM    Inter-firm knowledge flows    
    UA    Headquarter-subsidiary perspectives   
Day 3    RM    Intra-firm knowledge flows    
    BP    Knowledge characteristics and transmission    
Course literature
Indicative literature: (subject to updating and revisions)
  1. Cantwell, J.A. and Mudambi, R. 2005. MNE competence-creating subsidiary mandates. Strategic Management Journal, 26(12): 1109-1128.
  2. Gittelman, M. and Kogut, B. 2003. Does good science lead to valuable knowledge? Biotechnology firms and the evolutionary logic of citation patterns. Management Science, 49(4): 366-382.
  3. Kogut, B. and Zander, U. 1993. Knowledge of the firm and the evolutionary theory of the multinational corporation. Journal of International Business Studies, 24(4): 625-645.
    [Also useful to read author’s comments on winning the JIBS decade award: Kogut, B. and Zander, U. 2003. A memoir and reflection: knowledge and an evolutionary theory of the multinational firm 10 years later. Journal of International Business Studies, 34: 505-515.]
  4. Mowery, D. and Rosenberg, N. 1998. Paths of innovation: technological change in 20th century America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapters 1-2 (pp.1-46).
  5. Andersson U., Forsgren M. and Holm U. 2002. The strategic impact of external networks: subsidiary performance and competence development in the multinational corporation. Strategic Management Journal, 23(11): 979–996.
  6. Cohen, W. and Levinthal, D. 1990. Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation, Administrative Science Quarterly, 35: 128-152.
  7. Patibandla, M. and Petersen, B. 2002. Role of Transnational Corporations in the evolution of a high-tech industry: the case of India's software industry. World Development, 30(9): 1561-1577.
  8. Storper, M. and Venables, A.J. 2004. Buzz: face-to-face contact and the urban economy. Journal of Economic Geography. 4(4): 351-370.
  9. Asakawa, K. 2001. Organizational tension in international R&D management: The case of Japanese firms. Research Policy, 30: 735-757.
  10. Birkinshaw, J. and Hood, N., 1998. Multinational subsidiary evolution: capability and charter change in foreign-owned subsidiary companies. Academy of Management Review, 23(4): 773-795.
  11. Gupta, A.K. and Govindarajan, V. 2000. Knowledge flows within multinational corporations. Strategic Management Journal. 21(4): 473-496.
  12. Mudambi, R. and Navarra, P. 2004. Is knowledge power? Knowledge flows, subsidiary power and rent-seeking within MNCs. Journal of International Business Studies, 35(5): 385-406.
  13. Pedersen, T., Petersen, B. and Sharma, D.D. 2003. Knowledge transfer performance of multinational companies. Management International Review, 43(Special Issue 3): 69-90.
  14. Björkman, I., Barner-Rasmussen, W. and Li, L. 2004. Managing knowledge transfer in MNCs: the impact of headquarter control mechanisms. Journal of International Business Studies, 35: 443–455.
  15. Mudambi, R. 2002. Knowledge management in multinational firms. Journal of International Management, 8(1): 1-9.
  16. O’Donnell, S. W. 2000. Managing foreign subsidiaries – agents of HQ or an interdependent network. Strategic Management Journal, 21: 525-548.
  17. Shimizutani, S. and Todo, Y. 2008. What determines overseas R&D activities? The case of Japanese multinational firms. Research Policy, 37(3): 530-544.
Enrolment
Please email a complete application form to kr.smg@cbs.dk. The form can be found in the box on the right side of the page.

Sidst opdateret af Kristine Olsen 28.04.2009