Page 23 - Crossing Cultural Boundaries - Cees den Teuling

reach the level of continuous innovation (Newell, Robertson, Scarbrough & Swan, 2009).
The major themes of the underlying research are the study of the influencing factors on the KT processes and their measurable outcome regarding the obtaining of sustainable value creation. In the final part of the study a proposal of improvement of the current practice will be proposed based on the results of the conducted field research. The expected contribution to the field of management consultancy and training will be the presentation of a “toolkit”. The latter will provide guidance and assistance to consultants and business trainers operating in trans-boundary, culturally diversified environments. More in depth discussion on the topics of the research is elaborated in Chapter Two.
1.1 Knowledge transfer as an activity of knowledge management
The subject of KM and KT is a heavy exploited field by academics and researchers. However, a vast group of them limit their research to inter-organisational or intercompany KT. Others have their focus set on researching the directions of KT inside multinational corporations focused on the communication between the Head offices and their subsidiaries (mainly) in foreign countries. The area of this research, i.e. the transfer of management and business knowledge between independent actors in a trans- boundary setting, gained much less attention from the scientific and academic environment (Ancona & Caldwell, 1994).
With the huge increase in cross-border activities in the recent decades the need for effective information and knowledge is larger than before and is expected to increase further through intensified contacts and agreements. Therefore, a complementary and valid research is needed to investigate the backgrounds and experience of the cross-border KT further. International advisory firms and independent management and business consultants are predominantly concerned about the appropriateness of their expertise and practices. This is an issue especially in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) environment and in the former Soviet Union countries (FSU). To reach a mutual understanding and to achieve the level of adaptation that results in the creation of sustainable values, KT should be the ultimate goal for both the host organisation (receiver) and the advisor (knowledge transmitter). When a shared discourse is limited or even absent, the higher costs of the transfer of management knowledge, by a disturbed flow of exchange, lead to frustrations and an increased number of failures. Additionally, when parties depend on translation of terms from the
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