1. Globally distributed knowledge Frans van den Heuvel Niek Den Teuling Esther Verhoef

2. Overview • Problem statement • Multinational corporation • Knowledge management strategies • Outline • Issues & questions • Discussion 1 • Discussion 2

3. Problem statement • What type of knowledge management strategy is best used for a multinational company?

4. Multinational corporation • Advantages • Sell far more than other types of companies • Avoid transport costs • Take advantage of different wage levels in different countries • Economies of scale • Less chance of going bankrupt • More research and development

5. Multinational corporation • Disadvantages • Trade restrictions at government-level • Import taxes • Import quota • Managing a large, global organization • Managing knowledge

6. Knowledge management strategies • How to manage knowledge? • Codification strategy • Tacitness strategy • Focused and unfocused knowledge management strategies

7. Codification strategy • Intranets • Shared databases • Expert systems • E-mail

8. Codification strategy • Advantages • Facilitation of flows • Fast and reliable access • Tend to be more efficient and appropriate than earlier forms of codification • Better able to quickly identify and exploit new business opportunities

9. Codified strategy • Disadvantages • Information overload • Large directories, unread e-mail, junk mail • Costs may be too high (when underlying knowledge becomes old, system maintenance)

10. Tacitness strategy • Advantages • Keeping knowledge in a ‘fluid state’ • Creativity and original forms of response and coordination • Not easy for competitors to imitate (unlike codified knowledge)

11. Tacitness strategy • Disadvantages • Problem when key personnel leaves(solution: Cross-specification and team building) • Immobility of organizational knowledge

12. Focused and unfocused KM strategies • Focused KM • Specializes on specific forms of codification for each type of knowledge. • Unfocused KM • The way knowledge is codified is not the result of a deliberate decision, but a by-product of other decisions.

13. Focused and unfocused KM strategies

14. Outline • Why multinational corporations • Advantages / disadvantages • Issues regarding knowledge management • Knowledge management strategies • For each strategy: • Advantages / disadvantages • Real-life examples • Formulating a strategy guideline • Conclusion

15. Issues & questions

16. Discussion 1 • Subunits with high levels of codification of knowledge experience stronger performance than subunits with low level of codification

17. Discussion 2 • Subunits with high levels of tacitness of knowledge experience stronger performance than subunits with low levels of tacitness