Title: MNC subunit competence creation and knowledge sourcing

Authors: Xiaoyu Pu; John Cantwell; Huiping LI

Addresses: School of Business, State University of New York at New Paltz, 1 Hawk Dr., New Paltz, NY, USA ' Rutgers Business School, Rutgers University 1 Washington Park, Newark, NJ, USA ' Anisfield School of Business, Ramapo College of New Jersey, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ, USA

Abstract: This paper proposes a model to measure the extent to which the knowledge sourcing of a multinational corporation (MNC) foreign subunit influences that subunit's likelihood to engage in competence creation (CC) activities. We examine on a technological field level the extent to which a subunit's activity is distinct from that of its parent company (defined as technological distinctiveness), then analyse how this technological distinctiveness is related to the knowledge sourcing patterns of the subunit, as measured by the MNC's knowledge structure, as well as the knowledge complexity and geographical dispersion of its knowledge sources. This study focuses on a broadly defined set of large firms in the chemical industry. As predicted, a positive relationship is found between the knowledge complexity of a subunit's knowledge sourcing and its technological distinctiveness. Less expected, there is also found a negative relationship between the geographical dispersion of a subunit's knowledge sources and its technological distinctiveness.

Keywords: multinational corporation; MNC; competence creation; technological distinctiveness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTLID.2025.144539

International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 2025 Vol.16 No.1, pp.26 - 49

Received: 12 Dec 2023
Accepted: 04 Feb 2024
Published online: 18 Feb 2025 *