Department of Strategic Management and Globalization

Employment Practices of Multinationals in Denmark

Project participants: Dana Minbaeva (SMG, CBS) and Steen Navrbjerg (FAOS, KU)

The project supports Danish participation in international survey “Employment Practices of Multinationals in Organizational Context”. We carry out a comprehensive survey of employment practices of MNCs operating in Denmark, both Danish and foreign-owned. The uniqueness of the survey stems from (a) focusing on the MNC (both Danish-owned and foreign-owned) as a strategic unit in Danish institutional setting, (b) considering MNC employment practices in the realm of human resource management (HRM) and industrial relations (IR); and (c) comparability of the Danish survey with similar surveys being conducted by leading researchers in the UK, Ireland, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Australia and Norway.

The study is funded by an award from the ‘Det Frie Forskningsråd | Samfund og Erhverv’ (FSE). It is being undertaken by a team based at Center of Strategic Management and Globalization (SMG), Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and at Employment Relations Research Center (FAOS), Copenhagen University.

Duration: May 2009 – December 2010Project

Useful links:

Final report: Employment Practices of Multinational Companies  (pdf)

Survey for companies homebased in Denmark (pdf)

Survey for companies foreignbased in Denmark (pdf)

Accompanying report for companies (pdf)

Foundations of Knowledge Sharing: Behaviors and Governance

Project participants: Peter Abell, Kirsten Foss, Nicolai Foss, Jens Gammelgaard. Kenneth Husted, Lars Bo Jeppesen, Keld Laursen, Snejina Michailova, Dana Minbaeva, Torben Pedersen, Mia Reinholdt.

This project explores the microfoundations of knowledge management and argues that knowledge management processes can be influenced by the deployment of the appropriate administrative apparatus. Supported by the Research Council for Business and Economics, 2005-2008.

Transaction Cost Foundations of Strategic Management

Project participants: Kirsten Foss, Nicolai Foss.

Explores the neglected but fundamental part that transaction costs play in generating strategic opportunities.

Micro-foundations of Capabilities

Exploring Knowledge Governance

Human Resource Management and Knowledge Processes in Firms

Project participants: Torben Pedersen, Nicolai Foss, Dana Minbaeva, Keld Laursen.

This project investigates how the deployment of HRM practices can be used to improve the use of knowledge in firms and foster learning.

Knowledge Transfer in MNCs

Project participants: Torben Pedersen, Nicolai Foss, Gabriel Benito.

This project investigates how organizational mechanisms can be deployed to improve the transfer of knowledge in multinational corporations.

Knowledge and Firm Alliances

Project participants: Koen Heimeriks, Line Gry Knudsen.

This project investigates how firms may deploy administrative apparatus to better exploit, build and absorb knowledge in alliances with other firms and with research institutions.

Internationalization as a learning process

Project participants: Torben Pedersen, Bent Petersen and Gabriel Benito.

This project focuses on the learning and knowledge acquisition that takes place when companies go international.

Managing the global value chain

The first part of the project investigates how increased global competition forces companies to split up their value chain and relocate each activity in order to exploit location advantages. Project participants: Torben Pedersen, Bent Petersen and Kirsten Foss.

The other part analyzes how strategic opportunity and maneuverability can be enhanced by flexible global sourcing structures and multinational knowledge networks. Project

participant: Torben Juul Andersen.

Strategic risk management

Project participant: Torben Juul Andersen.

This project investigates proactive handling of corporate risk exposures to identify effective strategic risk management approaches. The multidisciplinary roots of risk management are integrated to outline the contours of responsive strategy processes that enable firms to exploit the turbulence of the global environment. The research effort is supported by a corporate sponsor group.

MANDI (Managing the Dynamic Interfaces between Culture and Knowledge)

Project participants: Jens Gammelgaard, Kenneth Husted, Snejina Michailova, Dana Minbaeva, Bo Nielsen.

The MANDI project was carried out by a group of researchers from Copenhagen Business School together with the corporate partners – CSC A/S, Rovsing Management A/S, DIOS A/S, ITK and Cell Network AB. The overall purpose of the project was to study the nature of the knowledge management, its barriers and enablers. In particular the project aimed at understanding:

•    what the cultural barriers to knowledge sharing in organizations are and how these barriers can be dealt with from a managerial perspective

 •    what the cultural barriers to knowledge sharing among members of a knowledge network are and how these barriers can be dealt with in companies

 •    how the concepts of culture and knowledge management are being refined through the development of IT in and between organizations

 •    how can organizational cultures and subcultures be aligned with knowledge sharing goals.

MANDI workshop presentations: Knowledge Sharing within Organizations

Introduction: mandi_wrksh2005_intro.pdf

DIOS: mandi_wrksh2005_dios.pdf

Danisco: mandi_wrksh2005_danisco.pdf

Chr. Hansen: mandi_wrksh2005_chr.hansen.pdf

Global Corporate Strategies: Offshoring of ’creative jobs’

Project participants: Bent Petersen og Torben Pedersen.

The aim of the research project is to map, analyze, and communicate to a broader audience the recent phenomenon of offshoring ‘creative jobs’ to low-cost countries with large pools of people with a higher education. The term ‘creative jobs’ refers to business activities requiring individuals with university degrees, decision-making skills, and abilities to think and act unconventionally. The phenomenon is studied using a strategic perspective of international corporations. The mapping and analyzing of the offshoring phenomenon benefit from the participation of the Danish researchers in a large-scale, international survey network anchored at the Duke University, USA. Furthermore, the mapping and analysis are based on clinical studies of Danish, international firms. Communication of the study findings is done through publishing company cases, journal articles, books, and via organization of business seminars.

Research Project funded by Trane’s Foundation.

Ledelse og Vidensdeling (in Danish only)

Projektdeltagere: Torben Pedersen og Dana Minbaeva.

Der har i flere år været et voksende fokus på videndeling og kompetenceudvikling både i den private sektor og i den statslige. Men på trods af den stigende interesse ved vi stadig forbavsende lidt om hvad ledelse kan gøre for at fremme videndeling blandt medarbejderne, ligesom vi også ved meget lidt om hvorvidt vilkårene for at fremme videndeling er de samme i den statslige sektor, som i den private sektor. I dette projekt vil vi belyse medarbejdernes syn på følgende aspekter ved videndeling i statslige enheder:
- værdier/videndelingskultur (bl.a. tillid, socialisering)
- barrierer og drivkræfter ved videndeling (bl.a. motivation til at dele viden)
- anvendelse af forskellige practices (HR) og kommunikationsformer
- kompetenceudvikling (faglig og personlig/social kompetence)
Udover analyse af omfattende datasæt vil projektet også involvere medarbejdere i diskussion af mulige hypoteser og problemstillinger der trænger til yderligere belysning i de videre analyser. Det vil ske gennem afholdelse af 2 offentlige møder og udarbejdelse af skriftligt materiale.

Projektet er finansieret af Statens Center for Kompetence- og Kvalitetsudvikling (SCKK).

Cross-Border Collaboration in European MNCs

Project participants: Bo Bernard Nielsen.

Cross-border collaboration is essential for the EU in order to reach its vision of becoming “the most competitive and dynamic economy in the world, based on knowledge, capable of sustainable economic development with more and better jobs and a stronger social cohesion” (European Commission, 2004). Among the world’s top 100 non-financial MNCs 59 are European, which puts a premium on studies of cross-border collaboration in a European context. Cross-border strategic collaboration by European MNCs serves as a vehicle for advancing technological and economic development and further integration and stability within the EU.

The project runs for three years and aims at mapping strategic alliance activities of European MNCs in order to increase scientific and practical knowledge of alliances as vehicles of economic and strategic development.

The Importance of Globalization of Innovation in the Nordic and Baltic countries

Project participant: Torben Pedersen

The project is funded by Norfa (Nordisk Råd).