Reverse Knowledge Transfer from Overseas Acquisitions: A Survey of Indian MNEs

Smitha R. Nair, Mehmet Demirbag and Kamel Mellahi
Additional contact information
Smitha R. Nair: University of Sheffield
Kamel Mellahi: University of Warwick

Management International Review, 2015, vol. 55, issue 2, No 7, 277-301

Abstract: Abstract In this paper, we examine the effects of subsidiary level factors on reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) in MNEs from the emerging market of India (EM-MNEs). We argue that subsidiary level competencies and capabilities play a vital role in persuading the parent EM-MNEs to initiate the RKT in their attempt to overcome the disadvantages they have. The competency levels of the subsidiary have been captured in terms of the role that the subsidiary has in the network and its host country endowments. In addition, RKT requires the subsidiary units to collaborate closely with the parent EM-MNEs and is also dependent on the extent of complexity of this knowledge. The study involves a survey of MNEs from the emerging market of India with overseas acquisitions. We develop a set of hypotheses and test them with the data using OLS regression. Results show that higher levels of collaboration facilitate RKT to the parent firm, and this effect is more prominent in high technology and knowledge intensive industries. Also, subsidiaries that hail from host countries with a higher competitive index compared to India and those that perform the role of specialised contributors contribute more towards RKT. In addition, a higher level of knowledge complexity leads to a greater extent of RKT.

Keywords: Reverse knowledge transfer; Emerging market multinationals; Subsidiary role; Collaboration; Subsidiary competence; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (34)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11575-015-0242-y Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:manint:v:55:y:2015:i:2:d:10.1007_s11575-015-0242-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/journal/11575

DOI: 10.1007/s11575-015-0242-y

Access Statistics for this article

Management International Review is currently edited by Michael-Jörg Oesterle and Joachim Wolf

More articles in Management International Review from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().