Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 7-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Are internal knowledge transfer strategies double‐edged swords?

Are internal knowledge transfer strategies double‐edged swords? Purpose – After identifying two kinds of internal knowledge transfer strategies, the purpose of this paper is to examine their effectiveness and whether they induce knowledge spillovers among firms. Design/methodology/approach – This study collected data in China and 219 questionnaires were achieved. Then, structure equation model by LISREL was used for hypotheses testing. Findings – The empirical results suggest that both codification and rich‐media strategies have positive effects on internal knowledge transfer. Moreover, codification strategy has a negative effect on knowledge spillovers while rich‐media strategy does not influence knowledge spillovers significantly. Thus, codification and rich‐media strategies are not double‐edged swords. Practical implications – This study provides firms with two strategies, codification and rich‐media, to promote internal knowledge transfer. Moreover, these strategies do not accelerate knowledge spillovers, and codification strategy even reduces knowledge spillovers. Firms can use these strategies to construct and sustain competitive advantages. Originality/value – While many knowledge creation, storage and protection strategies are studied, little is known about internal knowledge transfer strategies. This study suggests two internal knowledge transfer strategies and confirms their effectiveness. Moreover, because the relationship between internal knowledge transfer strategies and knowledge spillovers has been puzzling for a long time, this study clarifies the relationship and finds that these strategies do not accelerate knowledge spillovers and some even restrain knowledge spillovers. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Knowledge Management Emerald Publishing

Are internal knowledge transfer strategies double‐edged swords?

Xiu‐Hao Ding; Heng Liu; Yongtao Song
Journal of Knowledge Management , Volume 17 (1): 18 – Feb 15, 2013
Download PDF
18 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/are-internal-knowledge-transfer-strategies-double-edged-swords-r0O1XjrHfR

References (110)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1367-3270
DOI
10.1108/13673271311300769
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – After identifying two kinds of internal knowledge transfer strategies, the purpose of this paper is to examine their effectiveness and whether they induce knowledge spillovers among firms. Design/methodology/approach – This study collected data in China and 219 questionnaires were achieved. Then, structure equation model by LISREL was used for hypotheses testing. Findings – The empirical results suggest that both codification and rich‐media strategies have positive effects on internal knowledge transfer. Moreover, codification strategy has a negative effect on knowledge spillovers while rich‐media strategy does not influence knowledge spillovers significantly. Thus, codification and rich‐media strategies are not double‐edged swords. Practical implications – This study provides firms with two strategies, codification and rich‐media, to promote internal knowledge transfer. Moreover, these strategies do not accelerate knowledge spillovers, and codification strategy even reduces knowledge spillovers. Firms can use these strategies to construct and sustain competitive advantages. Originality/value – While many knowledge creation, storage and protection strategies are studied, little is known about internal knowledge transfer strategies. This study suggests two internal knowledge transfer strategies and confirms their effectiveness. Moreover, because the relationship between internal knowledge transfer strategies and knowledge spillovers has been puzzling for a long time, this study clarifies the relationship and finds that these strategies do not accelerate knowledge spillovers and some even restrain knowledge spillovers.

Journal

Journal of Knowledge Management – Emerald Publishing

Published: Feb 15, 2013

Keywords: Knowledge transfer; Competitive advantage; Internal knowledge transfer; Knowledge spillovers; Codification; Media

There are no references for this article.