Abstract: This study focuses on the role of senior management in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition of a private, alternative faith-based school by a public provincial school board, both located in Canada. To keep the anonymity of these organizations in this study, the organizations were given pseudonyms. These were « Biblical School », for the private alternative faith-based school and « School Board », for the public provincial school board. The organizations came together in July of 2015, in a deal that was officially referred to as an « acquisition », with the School Board as the acquiring organization. However, the acquisition negotiations began several months earlier. In the agreement, the Biblical School would gain access to resources held by the School Board, while the School Board would take over the two campuses belonging to the Biblical School. Additionally, the School Board would be responsible for the provincial school program, whilst the Biblical School would be left with some responsibilities, including alternative faith-based education programs and some logistics components. Senior managers from both organizations were involved through all the stages of the acquisition, from the negotiations, to the transfer of knowledge during the transition. This thesis focuses on these roles by studying the perceptions of senior managers, middle managers, teachers and support staff, drawn from both organizations. In order to clarify the role of the senior managers in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition, the literature review explores the concept of mergers and acquisitions, the knowledge transfer, the role of senior management and the proximity factors in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition. Under mergers and acquisitions, the literature helps understand the concept and the importance of supporting organizations to transfer or consolidate their assets, including knowledge. In the following section, the literature reveals th e definition of knowledge transfer, how it can be achieved, the factors that affect it and its importance in mergers and acquisitions. Then, in the role of the senior management component, the literature identifies the role of senior managers in supporting an effective transition in a merger, or an acquisition. Finally, the factors of influence regarding the role of senior managers in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition are revealed in the literature as geographical, cognitive and organizational proximity. Nonetheless, time is also mentioned in the literature as a major factor of influence. The aim of this qualitative and exploratory study is to understand the role of senior management in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition. It is based on a case study carried out within the two institutions previously mentioned, where semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 29 participants. The results of the study help the researcher to identify the pillars around the role of senior management and in the process meet the three objectives of the study which are : a) to describe and understand the role of senior management in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition, b) to highlight the best practices of senior management in order to improve the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition, and c) to identify the factors that influence the role of senior management in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition. From the results emerged a model that illustrates the role of senior managers in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition. The model includes the categories, strategies, best practices and factors of influence surrounding the role of senior management in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition. First, the model presents the role played by senior managers in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition, which is divided into three main categories; knowledge management, communication management, and transition management. These categories are viewed through the lenses of the pre-acquisition and post-acquisition phases. Each category is divided into different strategies. The strategies under the knowledge management category are identified as: 1) performing research on the acquired organization, 2) creating and implementing the knowledge transfer plan, and 3) providing resources for the knowledge transfer. These strategies fall under both pre and post-acquisition phases. Next, the strategies related to the communication management category, which also fall under both pre and post-acquisition phases, are primarily identified as: 1) setting up communication channels, 2) setting and communicating expectations clearly and transparently, and 3) being receptive to the employees’ ideas and concerns. In the last category, the strategies under transition management are underlined as 1) be ing physically present and organize meetings, 2) offering employees support during the transition, and 3) providing the necessary tools during the transition. These strategies fall only under the post-acquisition phase. Second, the model highlights the best practices of senior managers in the knowledge process during an acquisition. These best practices are divided into three main categories: forecasting, relationship building, and training. Each category of best practices is linked to a specific category related to the role of senior management. Forecasting is linked to the knowledge management category, relationship building to the communication management category and training to the transition management category. Under relationship building, the perceived best practices are creating and partaking in relationships between employees in both organizations, encouraging an open-door and teamwork culture and showing appreciation to employees. Under forecasting, creating a plan to support the transition, assigning someone on-site to manage the transition and learning from previous experiences are revealed as the perceived best practices. Lastly, under training, identification of employees’ levels of knowledge, the offer of training programs to facilitate the knowledge transfer and providing expert speakers, trainers and mentors, are revealed as the perceived best practices. The model also showcases four factors of influence around the role of senior management in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition. These factors are: geographical proximity, cognitive proximity, organizational proximity and time. Under geographical proximity, distance in relation to physical presence and distance in relation to communication flow are identified as the two characteristics that affect the role of senior managers. Also, in terms of cognitive proximity, shared knowledge vs knowledge gaps and employees’ professional experiences, are revealed as the main cognitive proximity characteristics that should be taken into consideration when looking at the role of senior managers in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition. Additionally, similarities or dissimilarities of the organizational cultures and the similarities or dissimilarities of the organizational structures are identified as the organizational proximity characteristics. Lastly, the time factor, including time adequacy and transition timeline, is identified as another factor that affects the role of senior managers in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition. In conclusion, the theoretical contributions of this study are to improve the understanding of the relationship between the knowledge transfer process and mergers and acquisitions, to enhance the understanding of the role of senior managers in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition, to improve the understanding of the theoretical bridges between the role of senior managers in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition and proximity factors and finally, to contribute to the understanding of the time factor around the role of senior management in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition. The study also presents practical contributions, including useful ideas and actions around the role of senior managers, the best practices and the factors of influence in the knowledge transfer process during an acquisition.

Recent contributions highlight the importance of international knowledge transfer as a fundamental source of competitive advantage of MNCs. Due to the traditional assumption that parent firms are the prime source of knowledge, majority of studies have focused on knowledge transfer from headquarters to subsidiaries. However, the role of subsidiaries within MNCs has changed dramatically; many subsidiaries have gained a creative role by generating new resources depending on the comparative advantage of the location in which they operate, and through the process of reverse knowledge transfer, they subsequently contribute to the competence upgrading of the MNC. In reviewing the extant literature on MNC knowledge transfer and in particular reverse knowledge transfer, this research unleashes several gaps, notably in the understanding of factor affecting subsidiary knowledge development and reverse knowledge transfer within the service sector. Borrowing concepts from the knowledge-based and network views, a series of hypotheses were tested using the result of a web-based survey of the subsidiaries that were located in the UK, had a non-UK parent firm, and were active in the KIBS sector. Responses from 187 general managers, managing directors, or chief executives of subsidiaries confirm that those subsidiaries that develop and maintain business relationships with their internal (sister subsidiaries and headquarters) and external actors (customers, universities, suppliers, competitors) and have high level of autonomy are more capable of developing knowledge. With regards to determinants of reverse knowledge transfer, while subsidiary characteristics (knowledge development and willingness) and relationship characteristics (socialization mechanisms) are emerged as the main facilitators of reverse knowledge transfer, knowledge characteristics (tacitness and complexity) appeared as the main hindrances of this phenomenon. Moreover, the results indicate that, (a) socialisation mechanisms augment the extent of shared values and subsidiary-parent firm embeddedness and (b) willingness mediates the impacts of shared values and subsidiary-parent firm embeddedness on reverse knowledge transfer. The key contributions of this research are two-fold: firstly, it examines the process of reverse knowledge transfer and knowledge development exclusively within the KIBS sector. Secondly, it investigates the joint impacts of relationship characteristics, knowledge characteristics, and subsidiary (sender) characteristicson reverse knowledge transfer.

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the effects of organizational and national cultural differences on international acquisitions. We argue that cultural differences prompt social identity building that leads to 'us versus them' thinking and thereby creates the potential for social conflict. We also maintain that the same cultural differences can contribute to learning in terms of knowledge transfer. We develop a structural equation model to test these hypothesized effects on a sample of related international acquisitions. Our analysis shows that cultural differences at the organizational level are positively associated with social conflict, but that national cultural differences can decrease social conflict. Furthermore, both organizational and national cultural differences are positively associated with knowledge transfer. This analysis shows the importance of disentangling the various effects that cultural differences have on international acquisitions. It also suggests that national cultural differences are less of a problem in international acquisitions than is usually assumed.

archives@tulane.edu / The purpose of this dissertation was to develop, propose, and test a model of knowledge transfer for expatriates. The transfer of knowledge from expatriates to subsidiaries and the knowledge that is gained by expatriates during their international assignment was considered in this study. The model included the antecedents of expatriate absorptive capacity (EXACAP), and the effect of EXACAP on knowledge outcomes, according to purposes posed by Hocking et al. (2004). The relationship between expatriate success and knowledge transfer outcomes were discussed in terms of knowledge application and experiential learning. Two samples were utilized to provide empirical evidence, one composed of 149 expatriates assigned in 34 countries and the other sample comprised of 80 dyads of expatriates and host country nationals (HCNs). Results show that cognitive flexibility, language fluency, the frequent interaction with HCNs, and cultural distance were predictors of EXACAP. Additionally, EXACAP had a positive effect on knowledge transferred and knowledge received by expatriates. It is showed that expatriates who transfer more knowledge were more successful in their international positions and report higher levels of their performance were additionally observed. This work contributes to the expatriate literature by enhancing the understanding of expatriate failure and by providing an alternative explanation of expatriate success from a knowledge transfer approach. / 1 / Wilson Antonio Florez Vanegas

Knowledge transfer has been identified as a strategic process for bridging the persistent gap between theory and practice. In biodiversity management, experts generate different types of knowledge that is transferred to citizen communities for practice. On the other hand, citizens constantly interact with their biosphere and from time to time are requested to convey ground knowledge to the experts for scientific analysis and interpretation. The transfer of knowledge between experts and citizens is faced by different challenges key among them being the large volume of the knowledge, complexity of the knowledge, as well as variegated absorptive capacity among citizen communities. Knowledge transfer models adopted for expert-citizen engagement in the biodiversity management domain must therefore consider these characteristics of the domain. Advances in computing technologies present opportunities to create knowledge transfer models that can minimize these challenges. Current knowledge transfer models were created mainly for organizational knowledge transfer and without consideration of specific computing technologies as a mode of knowledge transfer. These challenges and opportunities highlighted a need to investigate how a technology-based knowledge transfer model for biodiversity management could be created. The focus of this study was to explore enhancement of knowledge transfer in the biodiversity management domain using two specific technologies; knowledge representation using ontologies and crowd computing. The research draws from existing knowledge transfer models and properties of the two technologies. This study assumed the pragmatist philosophical stance and adopted the design science research (DSR) approach which is characterised by two intertwined cycles of ‘build’ and ‘evaluate’. The research produced two main contributions from the two cycles. The build cycle led to creation of a technology-based model for knowledge transfer between experts and citizens in the biodiversity domain and was named the Biodiversity Management Knowledge Transfer (BiMaKT) model. Evaluation cycle resulted in development of a platform for transfer of biodiversity management knowledge between experts and citizens. The BiMaKT model reveals that two technologies; knowledge representation using ontologies and crowd computing, could be synergised to enable knowledge transfer between experts and citizens in biodiversity management. It is suggested that this model be utilised to guide development of biodiversity management applications where knowledge needs to be transferred between experts and citizens. The model also presents opportunity for exploration in other domains, especially where experts and citizens need to exchange knowledge. The knowledge transfer platform, reveals that the BiMaKT model could be used to guide development of biodiversity management knowledge transfer platforms. The study utilises a case of fruit fly control and management knowledge transfer between fruit fly experts and fruit farmers for evaluation of the contributions. An experiment using the case demonstrated that the challenges facing knowledge transfer in the domain could be reduced through ontological modelling of domain knowledge and harnessing of online crowds participation through crowd computing. The platform presents opportunity for more empirical studies on usage of the platform in knowledge transfer activities. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Informatics / PhD / Unrestricted

La logistique incarne la colonne vertébrale de l’économie mondiale. Elle est la réalisation physique ducontrat commercial d’achat de biens. Paradoxalement, elle semble souffrir de manque deconceptualisations de ses structures et déterminants. Ainsi, les chaînes logistiques sont encore à tortsouvent confondues avec les chaînes d’approvisionnement, et les activités d’exécution physique sontsouvent mélangées avec les activités de pilotage. Il en résulte, que de mauvais diagnostics causentd’autres problèmes, eux-mêmes sources d’inefficience, et donc d’une forme d’entropie. Cette entropieest observable au travers de multiples symptômes opérationnels et financiers ; et elle tend à grandir avecle progrès technologique mal maitrisé. Que faire de ces nouvelles données, de ces informations, de cesconnaissances ? Avons-nous les connaissances pré-requises pour en faire bon usage ? Ce travail derecherche essaie précisément de décrire les microstructures de ce secteur d’industrie. Il met en avant lerôle clé du pilotage, et les effets disruptifs du progrès technologique sur la composition « traditionnelle »de ses « facteurs de production ». Il essaie également de mettre en lumière une plus grande polarisationattendue du facteur travail autour de tâches humaines faiblement et hautement cognitives. Lanéguentropie des connaissances, avec l’humain comme support, serait alors assimilable à une hauteperformance du transfert de celles-ci, et pourrait alors devenir une source de co-création de valeur. / The logistics represents the backbone of the world economy. It physically materialises the commercialcontracts between buyer and seller. Paradoxically, it seems to suffer from a lack of conceptualisation, ofits related structures and determinants. Too often, the logistics chains are mixed up with the supplychains. Also the physical logistics execution and its management are rarely differentiated. As aconsequence, wrong diagnosis are causing other issues, themselves being source of inefficiency, leadingto a kind of entropy. The latter is observable through numerous operational and financial symptoms,and it tends to grow if technological progress is not under control. What shall we do with this new data,information and knowledge? Do we actually have the right knowledge to make good use of it? Thisresearch precisely tries to describe the industry microstructures. It sheds light on the pivotal role of thelogistics management, as well as on the disruptive effects that technological progress could have on itstradition mix of production factors. It tends to show how labour factor could polarise over low and highcognitive tasks supported by human. The negentropic knowledge, using human as a support, would thenbe similar to a high knowledge transfer performance, and could become a source of joint value creation.

This study was designed to determine the effective internal communication methods and media for knowledge transfer in the manufacturing industry. The research involved the collection of quantitative data through non-probability, convenience sampling. The data was collected using survey questionnaires at three companies in the manufacturing industry namely; Exxaro FerroAlloys, Tubatse Chrome and Amalgamated Beverage Industries. The data was analysed using descriptive and univariate statistical techniques. The study showed that push communication methods and high-media rich communication is preferred for transferring information/explicit knowledge in the manufacturing industry. The most preferred communication methods (top three) for information/explicit knowledge transfer were email followed by newsletters and compulsory meetings. The importance of media richness in transferring tacit knowledge was shown. The study found that High-media rich communication, especially face-to-face, was preferred to transfer and share tacit knowledge. These findings were discussed in the context of existing literature and a number of recommendations were made. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

No description available.

Scholars dating back to the early 1900s have been interested in the idea that organizations benefit from locating in close proximity to other similar organizations (Marshall, 1920). Largely, this research suggests that economies of agglomeration accrue to clustered organizations which create performance advantages when compared to more isolated organizations. Recently, agglomeration theory researchers have focused on high technology clusters where the primary benefit of collocation is argued to be access to knowledge spillovers from local organizations. This dissertation argues that in order to access local knowledge, firms must be active participants in the local research community. Furthermore, in clusters where inventive activity, measured using patent data, is highly concentrated in one or a few organizations, firms derive less benefit from their participation in local research. Clustering does not come without a price, however. Membership in local research networks, which initially provides an advantage for clustered organizations, ultimately drives a convergence of inventions in the cluster. That is, networks of organizations in clusters channel institutional pressures which ensure that firms' inventions come to resemble the inventions of other organizations in the cluster, over time.

Online reviews, which are consumer-generated messages, play a vital role in the consumer decision making process especially prior to their purchase adoption (i.e., pre-usage). The objective of this research is to investigate the effects of two-sided online reviews’ contents affecting the consumers' attitudes at the pre-usage stage of a focal experience service. Contrary to one-sided reviews (i.e., only positive or negative information), two-sided reviews contain both positive and negative information about a product/service: Two-sided reviews are considered more informative. Extant studies make an important assumption that there is no information asymmetry between writer/source of two-sided reviews and consumers that read/receive it. Their implicit assumption is that the attitude of the writer/source of the two-sided review is completely transferred to the reader/receiver of the review. Given the subjective nature of two-sided online reviews for experience goods, we contend that such an assumption is flawed because transfer of personal experience in form of attitude towards a focal object/service to others is fraught with ambiguity and uncertainty that can mitigate the transfer. Drawing on ambivalence and prospect theories, our hypothesis states that: the anticipatory ambivalence of the receiver/reader based on a two-sided review content for a focal service is higher than the ambivalent attitude of the source/writer of the review who has already experienced the focal service. Our empirical study, consisting of 1492 subjects from Canada and the United States, supports our stated hypothesis. The implication of our finding is profound. It shows that the extant literature had underestimated the negative attitude of the receiver/reader of the online reviews in their investigation, which confound their findings. To that end, we provide future research direction and implications of our findings in practice. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)