Page 212 - Crossing Cultural Boundaries - Cees den Teuling
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capability of learning, leading to the development and implementation of SVC internally as well as to gain comparative and/or competitive advantages in the market place. As initially identified by Grant (1996) and supported and stressed by Argote, McEvily, and Reagans (2003, p. 572) “properties of knowledge, properties of units and the relationships between units are central elements for mapping the knowledge management environment”. For the development of the “Toolkit” the models developed by Grant (1996) and Argote et al. (2003) are utilised to construct a starting platform for inter-organisational knowledge transfer. The model of “Inter-organisational Knowledge, Inter-organisational Transfer model of Easterby-Smith, et al. (2008) with adaptations, is implemented (please check “Figure 4”, p. 69 for more details). The framework is based on the implementation of a bi-directional transfer of knowledge and consists out of four groups of factors, (i) the capabilities and resources of both the transmitter and (ii) recipient organisations (iii) the type (nature) of the knowledge to be exchanged and (iv) the present and available dynamics inter and intra for the organisations concerned.
By its origin, transboundary transfer of knowledge includes the minimum of two organisations with a mandatory understanding of the interactive and proactive dynamics, in the relationship between the transmitter and the recipient organisation.
Several factors, e.g. the level of trust and risk, the relative power balance between partners, the existing mechanisms and available structures in both organisations and social connections need to be understood and proactively exchanged between involved associates.
A basic condition is the need of a motivation to absorb the knowledge offered with the recipient organisation, while the transmitter (donor) organisation is able to offer knowledge, valuable to the recipient organisation. The recipient’s intention to absorb and to internalise is the key factor in the (transboundary) transfer of knowledge (Ko et al., 2005). In contrast, the determination of the transmitter (donor) to share knowledge, is an equally decisive factor. There is a two-way effect: unmotivated teaching may reduce the acceptance for learning and vice versa. A level of Absorptive Capacity (ACAP) is needed by the transmitter organisation to adjust the significance of the knowledge to the recipient organisation.
The level of recipient’s ACAP is strongly connected with the capability to transfer internally in the organisation. For example, a recipient organisation with a sufficient level for the absorption of externally acquired knowledge should be able and well equipped to disseminate the knowledge gained within the home-organisation.
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