Global Knowledge Management Flashcards
What is global knowledge management?
Management of innovation, which, in many firms, would be under the responsibility of their R&D function
What does global knowledge management encompass?
1) Trends in globalisation of R+D of MNCs
2) Differentiating national subsidiary roles
3) Creation of centres of excellence
4) Barriers to effective GKM
5) Mechanism to develop GKM capabilities
What are the different types of R+D?
Imported R+D - conducted in the US by companies with HQs in other countries
Domestic R+D - conducted in the US by companies HQ’d in the US
Exported R+D - conducted in other countries by companies HQ’d in the US
What is the regional ranking for corporate R+D?
1) Asia (driven by China and India)
2) North America
3) Europe
World’s biggest innovators conduct parts of their R+D abroad
What do imported R+D trends in China show?
US leads spending in China
What are the trends in Indian R+D?
- Growth in corporate R+D 115% 2007-2018
- Powered by imported R+D
- Software R+D is the largest investment area
Why do MNCs move TO Asia?
- Access to technical talent that was close to regional customers
- Tech centres in India give around-the-clock capability to develop due to time difference in the US (accessing talent)
- Labour cost
What are the R+D trends in the US?
- R+D exports increased, rise in imports greater
- European companies have provided 63% of US R+D in 2015
- High cost country but close to markets, access to talent and technology, culture of innovation e.g Silicon Valley
Which company is the most visible in Silicon Valley?
TESLA - main offices and factory
What are the European trends in R+D?
They spend less R+D at home
What are the differentiating national subsidiaries’ roles?
- HQs starting to treat subsidiaries as a differentiated network rather than uniform subservient outlets
- Strategic leader, black hole, contributor, implementer
What is a strategic leader in terms of differentiating subsidiary roles?
High strategic importance of local environment, high competence of local organisation
- Detecting signals of change
- Partner to HQ
- Analyses threats and opportunities and develops responses
- e.g UK subsidiary of Phillips in building position in the teletext TV business
What is a contributor in terms of differentiating subsidiary roles?
Low strategic importance of local environment, high competence of local organisation
- Valuable expertise
- Channelled toward projects of corporate importance
What is an implementer in terms of differentiating subsidiary roles?
Low strategic importance of local environment, low competence of local organisation
- No access to critical info, scare resource control
- Lack potential to become contributors
What is a black hole in terms of differentiating subsidiary roles?
High strategic importance of local environment, low competence of local organisation
- Objective is to manage out of this position
- Local presence is important but has little impact
What are the managerial implications of subsidiary roles?
HQ should set a common strategic direction - important where tasks are differentiated and responsibilities are dispersed
HQ should build a differentiated network - allocate subsidiary roles and include in decision making
HQ should direct the process - ensure that roles are coordinated and that the distribution of responsibility is controlled
What factors represent potential sources of innovation and learning for a company?
- Customer preferences
- Competitive behaviour
- Government demands
- Sources of technological info
How can companies capitalise on sources of innovation and learning?
- Be responsive in absorbing info
- Recognise national companies as sources of expertise
- Cooperative effort works better than centralised direction
What is a centre of excellence?
Unit of an org that embodies explicitly recognised (important for value creation) capabilities to leverage/disseminate into other parts of the firm
What is an example of COEs?
Siemens has an R+D lab in Bangalore, India which develops software for 30 areas of business for India and worldwide markets
What is Deloitte’s Future of Work CoE?
A singapore CoE to create solutions and anticipate market disruptions, address the skills mismatch challenge and identify future job requirements
- Local and global talent
- Looking at data science, HR analytics, actuarial science and natural language processing
What are some examples of COEs in terms of the top R+D spenders?
Google (Alphabet) cloud computing COE
VW COE for battery cells
Samsung’s marketing COE
J+J 3D printing COE
They provide research, best practice, support and training for a key area
What are the conditions under which a COE emerges in MNCs?
Parent firm investment
Performance: profitability, innovation, learning and knowledge transfer, competitiveness
Inter-unit relationships: links to sources of competence, subsidiary autonomy, good connections
External factors: strength of local diamond, link to sources of competence
What is Porter’s National Diamond?
Relationship between: - Firm strategy and rivalry - Demand conditions - Related and supported industries - Factors conditions and the impact of government policy and change on how to achieve competitiveness in an industry
