International Knowledge Management and Leadership

Knowledge Management and HRM

—  HRM improves the transfer of knowledge in the form of technological and managerial know how

—  HRM is the core activity in building knowledge capacity

—  Tacit knowledge is embedded in people. HRM is therefore implicated in managing tacit knowledge

—  Selection and training facilitate the creation, maintenance and transfer of knowledge

Tayeb,  2005

Knowledge Transfer

—  Within Multi-nationals

¡  Tacit – codified

¡  Internal – external

¡  Investment

—  Across national borders

¡  Diverse socio-political and cultural element

¡  Psychic distance (Mowery et al, 1996)

¡  Colonialism

¡  Developing countries (i.e. participative management from US to Middle East)

‘Stickiness’

—  Willingness and ability to share knowledge

—  Motivation to share knowledge

¡  Competition, status etc.

—  Knowledge sharing mechanisms

¡  Codification

¡  Communication/language

¡  Performance Management

¡  Norms and values

¡  Instrumental calculation

Receiving Unit

—  Absorptive capacity

‘ability to recognize the value of new external information, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends’ (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990)

¡  Evaluate, assimilate

¡  Feedback from PM

¡  Learning, training and development

¡  Language comparability

¡  Change

¡  Push and pull

Mechanisms for Sharing Knowledge

—  Explicit knowledge more easily shared

—  Expatriate assignments and international transfers

—  Cross-border project development teams

—  Communities of practice and/or epistemic communities

—  Social relationships and networks

—  Scanning for external knowledge

—  Implementing knowledge

¡  Issues of status

—  Partnering

Leadership

Why the need for global leadership?

—  Multiplicity of dimensions

—  Interdependence

—  Ambiguity and flux (Lane et al, 2004)

—  Worldwide trends

¡  International megamergers

¡  The rise of regional economic powers

¡  Privatization of public corporations

¡  European economic integration

¡  China’s growing economy

¡  Increasing conflict (Rosen et al, 2000)

Leadership knowledge

—  Collaborating, working with others in a relationship of trust, flexibility and respect

—  Discovering transformational processes leading to new ways of seeing and acting, which in turn lead to the creation of new knowledge

—  The design of new processes that align, balance and synchronize OB

—  Systems thinking

(Lane, 2004)

The Global Mindset

—  A way if seeing – an orientation to the world

‘the  ability to develop and interpret criteria for personal  and business performance that are independent from the assumptions of a single country, culture or context; and to implement those criteria  appropriately in different countries, cultures or contexts (Osland et al 2012)

—  Linked to geocentric approach

Characteristics of the global mindset

—  Cognitive complexity

—  Cognitive maps of CEO’s

—  International experience

—  Judgements about HRM policies

—  Top managers’ global orientation

—  Measurement

¡  International strategy

¡  International financial performance

¡  International scope

Criticisms

—  No generally accepted definition of the global mindset

—  Operationalized in numerous ways

—  International assignments  do not necessarily result in learning

—  Does not distinguish between global mindset of individuals and firms

(Osland et al)

Global Leadership

‘Process of influencing the thinking, attitudes and behaviours of a global community to work together synergistically toward a common vision and common goals’ (Adler, 2001)

—  Cross-cultural relationship skills

—  Traits and values

—  Global business expertise

—  Cognitive orientation

—  Global organizing expertise

—  Visioning

Criticisms

—  Published work has not contributed much to construct definition – no rigorous definition has emerged

—  Conceptual confusion

—  No clear difference between global managers and leaders, domestic and global managers

—  Surveys often allow respondents to define global leadership

Global Mindset Development

—  Curiosity, commitment, becoming smarter about how the world works

—  Explicit self-conscious articulation of current mindsets

—  Exposure to diversity and novelty

—  Develops an integrated perspective that  weaves together diverse strands of knowledge about cultures and markets

—  Challenges

—  Establishing selection criteria

—  Agreeing on competencies  to develop and measure

—  Designing effective training programmes

—  Retaining highly sought after graduates

—  International assignments

—  Short-term development assignments

—  International team

—  Action learning/projects/task forces

—  International meetings and forums

Difficulties in assessing talent

—  Identifying a common standard across cultures

—  Country differences is assessment,  promotion and development of global managers

—  Variability in global executive jobs

—  Openness to promoting executives from other nationalities

A nonlinear perspective

—  Contradicts notion of global leadership as a process of  linear personal development

—  Change in competencies and worldview takes place through a process of experiential overlays over time

—  Traditional training cannot be the primary tool for global leadership development

—  Intercultural experiences trigger functional or dysfunctional global competency development

Conclusion

—  Different forms of knowledge require different methods of transfer

—  Transferring knowledge can be problematic

—  Global leadership requires a global mindset

—  BUT

—  Problems of conceptualisation, definition and measurement