Title: Knowledge acquisition and its determinants: Malaysian international alliance experience

Authors: Fariza Hashim, Abdul Rahim Abu Bakar

Addresses: College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok Kedah 06010, Malaysia. ' College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok Kedah 06010, Malaysia

Abstract: Global competition forces firms to be innovative in sustaining their competitiveness. Knowledge is one of the key strategic assets that enable firms to do so particularly firms from developing countries. Engaging in international alliances provides chances for firms to learn and acquire knowledge from the partner. This study identified five variables that determine the knowledge acquisition process from their counterpart: learning capacity, experience, goals, partner|s involvement and accessibility influence the learning process. Hypotheses were tested on 65 Malaysian firms through interviews and maximum likelihood technique was used to analyse the data. The results confirm the importance of the variables in facilitating and expediting the process of acquiring knowledge. The critical components to the process are learning capacity, experience, partner|s involvement and accessibility of local partner to the knowledge required. Despite its significance in determining knowledge acquisition, the influence of goals in the knowledge-acquiring process is less critical than the other four.

Keywords: global business; knowledge acquisition; international alliances; learning; determinants; Malaysia; partner involvement; accessibility.

DOI: 10.1504/JGBA.2009.028705

Journal for Global Business Advancement, 2009 Vol.2 No.3, pp.264 - 278

Published online: 23 Sep 2009 *

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