BUSN20016 Research in Business

A brief statement of the problem that you would like to investigate.Research aim and objectives that can solve the problem you have identified.A brief methodology: Provide details about what type of methodology you will choose such as quantitative or qualitative or mixed methodology; what type of study it will be such as exploratory or descriptive or explanatory; what method(s) of data collection you will use; how you will source.

When any of the company expands its business and set up a subsidiary in another country than it is required to share the knowledge between those companies (Jeong, Chae & Park, 2016). This knowledge sharing can only be possible if the workforce of different countries communicate with each other. Due to differences in their culture and the society, problem may exist. Problem statement explains the issues of the research. This study is proposed in order to determine difficulties that developed at the time of knowledge transfer among the MNC’s and the effect of different factors on the knowledge transfer process such as cultural differences, social interaction etc.

Research aim and objectives 

The aim and the objective of the research clearly define the purpose of conducting the research. It defines the major idea for which the research has been conducted. According the above discussion, the aim and objectives of this research is:

• To explore the knowledge sharing among the MNC’s
• To identify role of social interaction in knowledge sharing process
• To assess the factors that act as the barriers in knowledge sharing among MNC’s

Methodology 

Type of study: Research design is the tool that helps to determine the type and the process of research. It explains the pattern of the research conducted in order to resolve the problem of the research (Quinlan, 2015). The type of research is exploratory in nature. This is because the various ideas and the effects of the different factors on knowledge transfer have been explored in the research. Qualitative analysis is done in order to conduct the research. The analysis is qualitative because many case studies about different companies have been studied to assess the methods and the process that is used by those companies for transferring the knowledge.

Data collection: The data collection method that been used for conducting the research is questionnaire that has been formed for the managers of the MNS’s. The questions are made in such a way that describes the way in which knowledge transfer is done in their company. Some of the questions deal with the factors affecting knowledge transfer so that information about the same can be extracted. The data acquired by this method is primary in nature and secondary data is collected by studying the case studies of various MNC’s. After assessing the case studies, it has been determined that most of the MNC’s used the process of expatriation in order to transfer the knowledge. Expatriation is the process that deals with sending the mangers from the parent company to the subsidiary company’s country (Peltokorpi & Vaara, 2014). The manager first gets the every type of training before reaching the destination country.

Sources of information: Sources of information can be defined as the informant that provides the information or the data regarding the research. It is very much essential to find the relevant source of information to conduct the research. In the have case, the sources that are used to acquire the information are the managers of the MNC’s and the information mentioned in the case studies f different companies. It can be acquired from the internet sources.

Expected results 

Expatriation is the process used to share the knowledge among the MNC’s and the companies also implemented diversification in the workforce to cut down the barriers of communication (Minbaeva, Pedersen, Björkman & Fey, 2014). The major reason that acts as the barrier for knowledge sharing is the difference in culture of the people. This can be overcome by hiring the diverse workforce in the organization and providing training to the employees so that they can easily interact and communicate with each other. Every employee should have respect of each other’s culture.

Conclusion 

MNC’s that is multinational companies need to transfer the knowledge from subsidiary company to the parent company. This transfer of knowledge needs the efforts to remove the communication barriers that exist between the companies due to difference in the culture (Noorderhaven & Harzing, 2008). Many Australian MNC’s are facing these types of problems in their business and come up with different kinds of measures to resolve the issue of social interaction and knowledge transfer among the MNC’s. The research has been conducted in order to study the knowledge transfer and the social interaction among the MNC’s. Exploratory research has been conducted by methods such as questionnaire and study. Different case studies have been studied to explore the knowledge about the topic.

 Reference

Jeong, G., Chae, M., & Park, B. (2016). Reverse knowledge transfer from subsidiaries to multinational companies: Focusing on factors affecting market knowledge transfer. Canadian Journal Of Administrative Sciences, 1(1).

Minbaeva, D. B., Pedersen, T., Björkman, I., & Fey, C. F. (2014). A retrospective on: MNC knowledge transfer, subsidiary absorptive capacity, and HRM. Journal of International Business Studies, 45(1), 52-62.

Noorderhaven, N., & Harzing, A. (2008). Knowledge sharing and social interaction within mncs. Journal Of International Business Studies.

Peltokorpi, V., & Vaara, E. (2014). Knowledge transfer in multinational corporations: Productive and counterproductive effects of language-sensitive recruitment. Journal of International Business Studies, 45(5), 600-622.

Quinlan, C. (2015). Business research methods. Andover: Cengage Learning EMEA.

Teigland, R., & Wasko, M. (2009). Knowledge transfer in MNCs: Examining how intrinsic motivations and knowledge sourcing impact individual centrality and performance. Journal Of International Management, 15(1), 15-31.