Transferring organizational learning systems to Japanese subsidiaries in China
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Journal of Management Studies
Publication Date
7-1-2006
Volume
43
Issue
5
First Page
1027
Last Page
1058
Abstract
Qualitative interviews and observations were conducted to study the cross-border transfer of organizational learning systems to the subsidiaries of five Japanese manufacturing companies operating in South China. This paper develops a holistic model of the overall process, by integrating knowledge-oriented, routine-oriented, and social/contextual perspectives, each of which plays a necessary role in explaining essential aspects. One feature of the transfer of organizational learning systems entailed arranging local access to, and opportunity to replicate, various types of knowledge repository that contained corporate values as well as technical expertise. A second feature involved the development of collective learning routines through dynamic interplay with evolving, locally based, knowledge repositories. A third feature, in two companies, entailed the creation of enterprise contexts that reproduced the socialization and corporate culture maintenance rituals, and the open plan factory and office designs, that were hallmarks of the respective parent companies, and which appeared highly conducive to the transfer of collective learning routines to the local sites. Findings indicate that successful cross-border transfer of organizational learning systems entails the development and implementation of an overall heuristic design for cultivating collective learning routines through the engineering of enterprise contexts and the responsive management of knowledge repositories.
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00628.x
Print ISSN
00222380
E-ISSN
14676486
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2006 Wiley-Blackwell. Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Hong, J. F. L., Easterby-Smith, M., & Snell, R. S. (2006). Transferring organizational learning systems to Japanese subsidiaries in China. Journal of Management Studies, 43(5), 1027-1058. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00628.x