Knowledge acquisition and its determinants: Malaysian international alliance experience
by Fariza Hashim, Abdul Rahim Abu Bakar
J. for Global Business Advancement (JGBA), Vol. 2, No. 3, 2009

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.

Online publication date: Wed, 23-Sep-2009

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the J. for Global Business Advancement (JGBA):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com