Sun, Yanxue (2009) How recipient firms benefit from international joint ventures : resource and knowledge transfer, learning mechanisms and technology spillovers in the China context. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This research contributes to the literature on resource, knowledge and capability transfer in international joint ventures. In mainstream international business literature, few empirical studies have been undertaken at the micro-organization level on the extent to which, and ways in which recipients benefit from the resources and knowledge transferred from the foreign partner in an IJV. This study explores the transfer content, context, process and effects from the recipient’s perspective. Measures of the acquisition/learning intentions of the recipient firm and the transfer benefits, including transfer channels and learning mechanisms, are drawn from a synthesis of international business, international management, knowledge management and knowledge transfer and learning literature. A business function-related knowledge typology by Pak and Park (2004) among a number of other knowledge typologies was adapted to specifically examine the types and extent of resources and knowledge transferred from the foreign partner to the recipient firm among four Sino-foreign IJVs in the auto parts and animal feed sectors. They were compared using quantitative and qualitative measures of the types and levels of acquisition and learning intentions, the transfer benefits within and outside the IJVs, and transfer channels and learning mechanisms they have developed. The findings highlighted the micro-organization processes of transfer and learning in IJVs that bring together parent firms from very different business contexts. Firstly, the ‘alignment’ or ‘fit’ between the source and recipient in the JV partnership influences the nature and level of resulting benefits. The measures of ‘success’ vary from firm to firm, being strongly influenced by the learning intentions in line with the initial level of resources, experience and knowledge of the recipient firm. Cross-sector differences, especially the combination impact of different levels of Chinese Government departments on the learning intentions and transfer benefits were revealed. Transfer channels and learning mechanisms vary according to the type of knowledge that is transferred, and the source and recipient firms’ particular organizational characteristics. The recipient firm’s organizational development strategy, aspects of wider organizational absorptive capacity and the motives of individuals were found to be important in facilitating technological spillovers and counteracting the foreign partner’s efforts to protect certain knowledge and processes. Overall, this research adds insights to previous studies of IJVs by emphasizing the context-specific nature of the transfer and acquisition/learning intentions, processes and outcomes.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	International business enterprises -- China, Host countries (Business), Organizational learning -- China, Technology transfer -- China, Communities of practice -- China
Date:	May 2009
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Warwick Business School
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Collinson, Simon
Extent:	290 leaves : ill., charts
Language:	eng
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/2290

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