Knowledge translation in the internationalization of firms

Abstract: International firms work in a complicated business environment that forces them to acquire various kinds of information and knowledge. Firms satisfy their need for knowledge about products, markets and business actors through learning from other firms. Because knowledge of relevance to international business is often tied in with a specific context, new knowledge has to be modified and adapted to fit the new market and organizational context. However, the importance of modification of knowledge is less developed in previous studies about knowledge transfer. Previous studies tend to focus the effects of characteristics of knowledge in the knowledge transfer process. To extend this view, I suggest a new and developed concept, knowledge translation, which is more focused on how knowledge is modified and developed as a firm identifies and assimilates it. The main purpose of this thesis is to conceptualize and describe knowledge translation in internationalization of the firms. For this purpose, I do LISREL analysis of quantitative data from the international project 'Learning in the internationalization of firms' and two case studies. This study shows that the concept of knowledge translation is a good framework for understanding knowledge modification and development in the internationalization process of the firms. That is, it shows that new knowledge is translated into the new context in a process of development and modification that is determined by the firms existing knowledge base. Results also show that knowledge translation is dependent on the firms previous experience and the depth of relationship development with the firm from which they translate knowledge. The results point to the idea that knowledge translation is a path dependent and relationship dependent phenomenon.