Abstract:
The impact of expatriates on knowledge transfer in foreign subsidiaries has been a focus of research on knowledge management in multinational companies (MNCs). This study combines knowledge-based view, the concept of absorptive capacity, and studies on expatriates literature’s approach to examine the effect from expatriates on transfer of two kinds of MNC’s knowledge (i.e. technological knowledge and marketing knowledge). This paper also analyzes the impact of knowledge absorptive capacity on subsidiary performance to examine how expatriates affect subsidiary performance by knowledge transfer. This study ran analysis of 33 subsidiaries of Japan-based firms in Thailand and Singapore over a 16-year period. Results of analysis indicate that the composition of expatriates in subsidiary workforce 1: promotes absorptive capacity on technological knowledge of subsidiary, but 2: hinders absorptive capacity on marketing knowledge of subsidiary. In addition, absorptive capacity of two kinds of knowledge in subsidiary 3: does not gain subsidiary performance by working separately, but 4: gain subsidiary performance by working together. The implications for expatriate management study and knowledge transfer literature are discussed.
