Knowledge sharing-based strategic roles of subsidiaries of multinationals in China

In this study, multinational enterprise was conceptualized as an integrative unit for making localized knowledge global. Knowledge base of a Multi National Corporation was basically categorized into two groups; local and global knowledge according to accessibility of corporate units to the knowledge of the corporation rather than its location. It is argued that strategic roles of subsidiaries within the same MNC can differ in terms of magnitude and nature of involvement in sharing with the global knowledge base of the corporation. The paper moves away from the unidirectional flow of knowledge. Based on the knowledge sharing patterns, a four-cell classification matrix was developed to illustrate different strategic roles of subsidiaries. The cluster analysis revealed that there is a significant inter-subsidiary difference in knowledge sharing patterns of subsidiaries. The study shows the strategic active subsidiary as a special case of the problems of managing spatially separate knowledge sources.