Knowledge in international firms and networks: the Institute of International Business at the Stockholm School of Economics

Abstract

The Institute of International Business (IIB) is a research and education center at the Stockholm School of Economics. From its humble beginnings in 1976, IIB has systematically built a trans‐discipliary research environment with an extended international network. IIB's research on the multinational corporation (MNC) has centered around two research questions: 1) How should MNCs be organized and managed to be successful? and 2) What are the reasons behind MNC success? Empirical studies of intra‐organizational phenomena created an MNC image from which the concept of a knowledge‐based view of the firm gradually emerged. We argue that the overarching logic of IIB's research on knowledge in international firms and networks emanates from exposure to international top managers and owners, and from studying processes in technology‐based multinationals. IIB has benefited greatly from faculty cooperation, instead of competition, thus ilustrating the knowledge‐based theories assertion that knowledge is generated by recombination in social communities with shared identity.

Strategic roles of centers in business school development

“…The analysis leads to further interest in center activities and factors driving center formation and growth. The literature presented earlier includes a number of case histories such as Foss (2007), Fraiman (2002) and Zander (2006). Examination of these and of the short case studies described here helps illustrate the formal and informal roles that centers may play in practice.…”

“…A number of interesting single case studies in North America, the UK and Europe are documented. Foss (2007) and Zander (2006) describe the contributions to research made by two centers at the Copenhagen Business School and Stockholm School of Economics. Powell (2006) discusses the work of research centers at London Business School in areas such as ethics, diversity, and women in business.…”

Success and failure in international assignments

“…Riusala and Suutari, 2004). When knowledge transfer is bidirectional in this manner, it can be termed “reciprocal knowledge transfer” and in this case MNCs get the greatest return on their investment and are more likely to achieve competitive advantage (Zander, 1991; Haspeslagh and Jemison, 1991; Conner and Prahalad, 1996; Grant, 1996; Gupta and Govindarajan, 2000; Spender, 1996).…”

Foreign direct investment in a digital economy

“…The cost of transporting goods across distance is one component of the cost of delivering a product to a foreign market (Brecher and Diaz Alejandro, 1997). Exports from the MNE's home country may be adequate to prompt reverse engineering that is often recognized as one of the main sources of involuntary technology dissemination (Zander, 1991). The majority of channels for the dissemination of modern, advanced technology are external effects or “spillovers” from foreign direct investment, rather than formal technology transfer arrangements (Blomström, 1989).…”