Facilitating faster knowledge transfer in the MNC: A case study of Volvo Car Corporation’s matched pairs system in Shanghai

Abstract

Internal transfer of knowledge is critical for firms’ survival, particularly in highly competitive markets where successful firms are those that rapidly transfer knowledge internally. Although knowledge transfer has been studied thoroughly over the past decades, limited attention has been given to the speed of knowledge transfer. Recent research has identified social capital as essential to achieve faster knowledge transfer, but the understanding of how firms can organize and manage the knowledge transfer process in order to achieve faster knowledge transfer remains unknown. This study intends to address this theoretical gap by describing and analyzing how firms manage and organize their work in order to facilitate faster knowledge transfer and what important factors to consider in this process are. The research is based on 13 interviews with managers with in-depth knowledge on the matched pairs system at Volvo Car Corporation in Shanghai, China. The main findings indicate that in order to achieve higher levels of social capital and hence faster knowledge transfer, firms need to adopt different organizational mechanisms over time and in different functions. In contrast to earlier research, the findings of this study further suggest that beyond a certain level of social capital, more social capital does not necessarily have a positive impact on the speed of knowledge transfer.