A Knowledge System Approach to the Multinational Company: Conceptual Grounding and Implications for Research

Nicolai J. Foss; José F.P. dos (Joe) Santos

doi:10.1108/S1571-5027(2011)0000024023

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Advances in International Management

ISSN: 1571-5027
Series editor(s): Timothy Devinney, Torben Pedersen and Laszlo Tihanyi

Subject Area: International Business

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A Knowledge System Approach to the Multinational Company: Conceptual Grounding and Implications for Research

Document Information:
Title:	A Knowledge System Approach to the Multinational Company: Conceptual Grounding and Implications for Research
Author(s):	Nicolai J. Foss, José F.P. dos (Joe) Santos
Volume:	24 Editor(s): Christian Geisler Asmussen, Torben Pedersen, Timothy M. Devinney, Laszlo Tihanyi ISBN: 978-0-85724-991-3 eISBN: 978-0-85724-992-0
Citation:	Nicolai J. Foss, José F.P. dos (Joe) Santos (2011), A Knowledge System Approach to the Multinational Company: Conceptual Grounding and Implications for Research, in Christian Geisler Asmussen, Torben Pedersen, Timothy M. Devinney, Laszlo Tihanyi (ed.) Dynamics of Globalization: Location-Specific Advantages or Liabilities of Foreignness? (Advances in International Management, Volume 24), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.425-453
DOI:	10.1108/S1571-5027(2011)0000024023 (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Article type:	Chapter Item
Abstract:	The role of knowledge, organizational learning and innovation as levers of competitive advantage is now a commonly acknowledged insight in research in international management, specifically in the emerging ‘knowledge-based view’. However, this view has not yet developed into a unifying framework and there are significant holes in the understanding of how knowledge may be turned into a source of competitive advantage for MNCs. In order to advance the knowledge-based view of the MNC – and particularly of the metanational company – we develop the notion of the MNC as a global knowledge system that links local knowledge structures and combines local knowledge elements that are complementary in order to achieve strategic advantage. These ideas are used to frame the changing environments, strategic intents and learning stances that characterize MNCs, and to derive a set of research challenges for MNC research.