International business and MIS approaches to multinational organizational research: The cases of kno

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International business and MIS approaches to
multinational organizational researchThe cases
of knowledge transfer and MIS workforce
outsourcing.

• Fred Niederman
• Saint Louis University
• March 2004

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Purpose

• For topics of common interest,
• MIS researchers do not reference IB research
• IB researchers do not reference MIS research
• But they could and should

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Two Cases

• Knowledge transfer
• MIS personnel off-shoring

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Knowledge Transfer IB Perspective

• Lord and Ranff (2000)
• Marketing knowledge among subsidiaries
• Implicit and explicit knowledge

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Making transfer of knowledge easier

• Less-tacit knowledge
• More attention from corporate headquarters
• More centralized organization structure
• More incentives linked to such transfer of
  knowledge

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Variables with no influence

• Relatedness of the host and local countries
• Corporate size
• Division experience
• Specific countries studied (e.g. Russia, China,
  and India)
• Corporate experience showed marginal influence

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Ciborra and Andreu (2000)

• Three loops
• A routinization learning loop
• whereby external resources are transformed by
  learned work practices
• A capability learning loop
• where work practices are transformed into
  organizational capabilities
• A strategic loop
• where the mission of the firm and the competitive
  environment screen capabilities in or out of the
  core capability circle.

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Alavi and Leidner (2001)

• Knowledge can be viewed from a number of distinct
  perspectives
• A state of mind
• An object
• A process
• Access to information
• Capabilities for influencing actions
• Results of processed data and/or information

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Enriching Both Areas

• A broader framework for multilevel theory in IB
  the how as well as the how much
• Detailed sets of influences and potential
  covariates for MIS effectiveness studies
• New questions
• How do tacit and explicit knowledge interact
  during transfer?
• How do formal (e.g. database/digital
  libraries/web conferences) interact with informal
  (e.g. classroom, transfers, tutorials)
• When are the various strategies, alone and in
  combination, most effective?

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Outsourcing -- IB Perspective

• Dunnings Eclectic Paradigm (1977, 1981, 1988,
  1993) of ownership, internalization, and location
  factors
• Location factors will cause an organization to
  locate in multiple nations

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Teece (2000)

• Under what conditions is it best to develop new
  products
• from internal development
• joint venture
• strategic alliance
• long term purchase agreement
• simply buying it on the market?

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Lacity and Willcocks line of research

• A database of cases
• Outsourcing projects requires outsourcing labor
• Outsourced labor can be in the form of
• Domestic org to foreign org
• Domestic org to domestic org
• Domestic org to domestic org with foreign
  division
• Internal to domestic org with foreign division

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MIS Personnel and Workforce Research

• Descriptive study Carmel and distributed
  development teams
• Labor markets Ang and Slaughter and Ferratt and
  Agarwal different organizational strategies
• National preparation Trauth and the Ireland
  case study

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Conclusions

• In Knowledge Transfer, MIS and IB contribute to
  deeper understanding of an important business
  phenomenon
• In Personnel Outsourcing, MIS and IB each have
  the opportunity to raise and address influential
  business issues
• Research in MIS is often operational asking how
  firms can/should do something IB is often
  strategic asking how what influences have led
  to particular firm actions in the marketplace
• The blending of these concerns lead to
  opportunities to strengthen both lines of
  research and to the posing of new questions of
  interest to practice and research

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Questions?