Abstract: This paper investigates globally dispersed group settings, which are increasingly put in place by MNCs faced with the challenges of uncertainty and increasing globalization to enhance their knowledge management capabilities. It proposes a research model to study factors affecting the knowledge sharing effectiveness in globally dispersed group settings within the MNC, and specifically focuses on the moderating effects of managerial involvement. Given conflicting findings in previous research concerning the role of management, this paper contributes to a deeper understanding of how knowledge is shared in globally dispersed settings in the MNC. By taking a mezzolevel approach, it additionally challenges some traditional assumptions on the appropriate level of analysis in studies of knowledge flows within the MNC.

Abstract: Finland used to be on top of country competitiveness charts, but has during the last couple of years lost its leading position. Due to this the Finnish government in 2006 launched a new strategy for how to organize its innovation system, moving from a traditional cluster based approach to give a stronger role to the leading companies within the Finnish industry. When previously the focus was on industrial clusters, the emphasis is now on orchestrated ecosystems. This paper presents how the shift in thinking took place, and presents implications for research and practice from the Finnish experiences.

Abstract: This study examines sources of firm-level innovation capabilities in developing economies in the post-liberalization era characterized by institutional changes and global competition. Drawing from evolutionary economics, we develop a model incorporating the role of internationally acquired knowledge on indigenous innovation capabilities. We empirically test the hypothesized relationships on longitudinal data on 206 Indian pharmaceutical firms from 1995-2004. Our results show that while participation in global resource and product markets independently influence innovation capabilities, the relationship between resource internationalization and innovation is partially mediated by product market internationalization. More fine grained analysis of firms in our data set also suggests the conditioning role of a unique institutional aspect of developing economies namely business groups, on these relationships with firms’ development of innovation capabilities.