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Do Foreign-owned Subsidiaries in China Follow a Distinctive Pattern of Technological Knowledge Sourcing?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

John A. Cantwell  and
Feng Zhang
John A. Cantwell
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, USA
Feng Zhang
Affiliation:
St. Mary's University, USA
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Abstract

This study investigates the China-located subsidiaries of foreign-owned multinational corporations (MNCs) for patterns of intra-firm and interorganizational technological knowledge accumulation. We analyze US patents attributed to those subsidiaries between 1996 and 2005 and argue that MNCs have recently tended toward open network structures, enabling subsidiaries in emerging markets to develop technological capabilities by searching for diversified inter-organizational knowledge sources beyond geographically local contexts to compensate for local limitations and deficiencies. Findings show that subsidiaries in China have gradually developed their technological capabilities through non-localized searches beyond their organizational, technological, and geographical boundaries. The study contributes to the literature on MNC organizational restructuring, subsidiary evolution, and subsidiary-level non-localized knowledge searches. The findings also have important implications for knowledge spillovers, MNC knowledge management, and government policies.

Keywords

ChinaMNC subsidiarynon-localized searchtechnological capability中国跨国公司分公司非本地式知识积累科技能力
Type
Special Issue Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 9 , Issue 3: Special Issue Knowledge Search, Spillovers, and Creation in Emerging Markets , November 2013 , pp. 489 - 512
Copyright
Copyright © International Association for Chinese Management Research 2013

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