Reverse knowledge transfer in knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) in Malaysia and the effects on foreign subsidiary performance / Md Khaled Shukran

Md Khaled , Shukran (2023) Reverse knowledge transfer in knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) in Malaysia and the effects on foreign subsidiary performance / Md Khaled Shukran. PhD thesis, Universiti Malaya.

	PDF (The Candidate's Agreement) Restricted to Repository staff only Download (184Kb)
	PDF (Thesis PhD) Download (3343Kb)

Abstract

Recent contributions have emphasized the significance of international knowledge transfer in providing a critical source of competitive advantage for multinational corporations. However, because parent organizations have long been thought to be the primary source of knowledge, most research has concentrated on knowledge transfer between headquarters and subsidiaries. Subsidiaries' roles within MNEs have altered considerably over time; many subsidiaries have formed a critical part by creating new resources based on their operational location's comparative advantage and contributing to the MNE's competence development via reverse knowledge transfer process. Based on the available literature, this research identifies substantial gaps in our understanding of the drivers affecting subsidiary knowledge development and reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) in the service industry. Additionally, the discovered difference in the effect of RKT on subsidiary performance is significant. This study aims to determine the impact of RKT on subsidiary performance in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS). This study discovered that various factors, including external embeddedness, subsidiary autonomy, and internal socialization mechanisms, contribute to developing subsidiary knowledge through association with external network partners (e.g., suppliers, consumers, and competitors) and internal socialization mechanisms. The current research indicates significant gaps in our understanding of the factors influencing subsidiary knowledge development, RKT, and performance in Malaysian foreign subsidiaries. The KIBS industry allows MNEs to integrate their intangible assets, such as know-how, technology, and expanded product development. These intangible assets may become critical to management or product development success. Nonetheless, this research provided a framework for external and internal linkages based on RBV and business network theory. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) examines data from an original survey (e.g., online and face-to-face meetings) with a sample of 234. The survey gathered responses from Malaysian General Managers (GM) and Senior Subsidiary Managers. Theoretical and practical evidence indicate that the consequences and ramifications will vary according to the subsidiaries' ability to develop new knowledge, outperform competitors, and contribute to the MNE's knowledge base. The findings highlighted the critical nature of continuously examining various relationship forms. It investigates how subsidiaries are embedded on external and internal frontiers and the factors influencing strategic development, providing new insight into the study's significant future directions. The crucial contributions identify external and internal relationship characteristics as the fundamental facilitators of RKT and subsidiarity performance. The data indicate that while internal socialization mechanism significantly affects subsidiary headquarters' embeddedness, it does not affect RKT. Similarly, embedded subsidiaries in their parent company assist in developing subsidiary knowledge but have no impact on RKT. Furthermore, this research makes two contributions: first, it studies RKT and development processes in the KIBS sector. Second, despite the favorable conclusion of future research studying these parameters, the combined influence of RKT on subsidiary performance would need to be explored to see how the headquarters-level response differs from the subsidiary-level response.

Actions (For repository staff only : Login required)