Transferring knowledge of manufacturing techniques within a subsidiary of a multi-national corporation

With the growth of the multi-national corporation (MNCs) has come the need to understand how parent companies transfer knowledge to, and manage the operations of, their subsidiaries. This is of particular interest to manufacturing companies transferring their operations overseas. Japanese companies in particular have been pioneering in the development of techniques such as Kaizen, and elements of the Toyota Production System (TPS) such as Kanban, which can be useful tools for transferring the ethos of Japanese manufacturing and maintaining quality and control in overseas subsidiaries. Much has been written about the process of transferring Japanese manufacturing techniques but much less is understood about how the subsidiaries themselves – which are required to make use of such techniques – actually acquire and incorporate them into their operations. This research therefore takes the perspective of the subsidiary in examining how knowledge of manufacturing techniques is transferred from the parent company within its surrounding (subsidiary). There is clearly a need to take a practice-based view to understanding how the local managers and operatives incorporate this knowledge into their working practices. A particularly relevant theme is how subsidiaries both replicate and adapt knowledge from parents and the circumstances in which replication or adaptation occurs. However, it is shown that there is a lack of research which takes an in-depth look at these processes from the perspective of the participants themselves. This is particularly important as much knowledge literature argues that knowledge is best viewed as enacted and learned in practice – and therefore transferred in person – rather than by the transfer of abstract and de-contextualised information. What is needed, therefore, is further research which makes an in-depth examination of what happens at the subsidiary level for this transfer process to occur. There is clearly a need to take a practice-based view to understanding how the local managers and operatives incorporate knowledge about manufacturing techniques into their working practices. In depth qualitative research was, therefore, conducted in the subsidiary of a Japanese multinational, Gambatte Corporation, involving three main manufacturing initiatives (or philosophies), namely 'TPS‘, 'TPM‘ and 'TS‘. The case data were derived from 52 in-depth interviews with project members, moderate-participant observations, and documentations and presented and analysed in episodes format. This study contributes to our understanding of knowledge transfer in relation to the approaches and circumstances of adaptation and replication of knowledge within the subsidiary, how the whole process is developed, and also how 'innovation‘ takes place. This study further understood that the process of knowledge transfer could be explained as a process of Reciprocal Provider-Learner Exchange that can be linked to the Experiential Learning Theory.

Transferring knowledge of manufacturing techniques in multinational corporations:preliminary findings

With the growth of the multinational corporation (MNC) has come the need to understand how parent companies transfer knowledge to, and manage the operations of, their subsidiaries. This is of particular interest to manufacturing companies transferring their operations overseas. Japanese companies in particular have been pioneering in this regard, with techniques such as the Toyota Production System (TPS) for transferring the ethos of Japanese manufacturing and maintaining quality and control in overseas subsidiaries. A great deal has been written about the process of transferring Japanese manufacturing techniques, but much less is understood about how the subsidiaries themselves, which are required to make use of such techniques, actually acquire and incorporate them into their operations. The research on which this paper is based therefore examines how, from the perspective of the subsidiary, knowledge of manufacturing techniques is transferred from the parent company. There is clearly a need to take a practice-based view to understanding how the local managers and operatives incorporate knowledge about manufacturing techniques into their working practices. In-depth qualitative research was, therefore, conducted in the subsidiary of a Japanese multinational, Denso Corporation, involving three main manufacturing initiatives (or philosophies), namely ‘TPS’, ‘TPM’ and ‘TS’. The case data were derived from 52 in-depth interviews with project members, moderate participant observations, and documentations. The aim of this paper is to present the preliminary findings from the case analyses. The research contributes to our understanding of knowledge transfer in relation to the circumstances of the selection between adaptation and replication of knowledge in the subsidiary from its parent. In particular this understanding relates to transfer across different flows and levels in the organisational hierarchy, how the whole process is managed, and also how modification takes place.

Antecedents and outcomes of union loyalty:a constructive replication and an extension

Primary data obtained from unionized employees in Singapore were used to examine P. A. Bamberger, A. N. Kluger, and R. Suchard's (1999) integrative model of the antecedents and outcomes of union commitment. Structural equation modeling results revealed support for their integrative model. Specifically, the results revealed the influence of job satisfaction on union loyalty to be indirect through organizational commitment. However, the union-related antecedents (union socialization and union instrumentality) were both directly and indirectly related to union loyalty through pro-union attitudes. In addition, union loyalty was related to the individually and organizationally directed union citizenship behavior dimensions. Limitations of the study and implications of the findings are discussed.

Brady et al.'s (2005) service evaluation models: A replication and extension in China

The research described in this study replicates and extends the Brady et al., [Brady, M. K., Knight, G. A., Cronin Jr. J. Toma, G., Hult, M. and Keillor, B. D. (2005), emoving the Contextual Lens: A Multinational, Mult-setting Comparison of Service Evaluation Models, Journal of Retailing, 81(3), pp. 215-230] study suggestion that future research in service evaluations should focus on emerging service economies such as China. The intent of the research was to examine the suitability of the models suggested by Brady and colleagues in the Chinese market. The replication somewhat successfully duplicated their finding as to the superiority of the comprehensive service evaluation model. Additionally, we also sought to examine as to whether the service evaluation model is gender invariant. Our findings indicate that there are significant differences between gender. These findings are discussed relative to the limitations associated with the study.

AIDS: structure, replication and spread of the AIDS virus

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)was first, described as a new disease of humans in 1981. The origins of the disease are controversial. AIDS is caused by a retrovirus, a type of virus which rarely attacks human cells. The first virus of this type recorded in humans is reponsible for a type of leukaemia and was identified in 1978. AIDS is thus the third type of human retrovirus to be discovered and hence, is referred to as T-lymphotrophic virus III (HTLV-III). For viruses to replicate, they have to invade a host cell which in this case is a T4-lymphocyte, a type of white blood cell that regulates the immune system. The problems of the disease result directly from the death of these cells. As a consequence, the immune system is compromised leading to a number of opportunistic secondary infections and other disorders.

Research with in-built replications:comment and further suggestions for replication research

This brief commentary on the paper Designing Research with In-built Differentiated Replication expands on concerns about a lack of replication research by focusing on three key questions of continuous importance: Why should researchers conduct more replication research? Why do so few researchers conduct replication studies? What can researchers do to add more studies? This paper identifies barriers preventing replication related to the scientific system, the replication researcher, and the initial research. Suggestions include publishing all papers electronically along with reviews; authors taking steps to encourage replications of their work; and editors inviting replications of important papers. The scientific community should establish a replication index as a measure of output quality. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

Brady et al.'s (2005) service evaluation models: A replication and extension in China

The research described in this study replicates and extends the Brady et al., [Brady, M. K., Knight, G. A., Cronin Jr. J. Toma, G., Hult, M. and Keillor, B. D. (2005), emoving the Contextual Lens: A Multinational, Mult-setting Comparison of Service Evaluation Models, Journal of Retailing, 81(3), pp. 215-230] study suggestion that future research in service evaluations should focus on emerging service economies such as China. The intent of the research was to examine the suitability of the models suggested by Brady and colleagues in the Chinese market. The replication somewhat successfully duplicated their finding as to the superiority of the comprehensive service evaluation model. Additionally, we also sought to examine as to whether the service evaluation model is gender invariant. Our findings indicate that there are significant differences between gender. These findings are discussed relative to the limitations associated with the study.

Majority and minority influence using the afterimage paradigm:a replication with an unambiguous blue slide

This study re-examines the afterimage paradigm which claims to show that a minority produces a conversion in a task involving afterimage judgements (more private influence than public influence) as opposed to mere compliance produced by a majority. Subsequent failures to replicate this finding have suggested that the changes in the afterimages could be attributed to increased attention due to an ambiguous stimulus coupled with subject suspiciousness. This study attempted to replicate the original experiment but with an unambiguous stimulus in order to remove potential biases. The results showed shifts in afterimages consistent with the increased attention hypothesis for a minority and majority and these were unaffected by the level of suspiciousness reported by the subjects. Additional data shows that no shifts were found in a no-influence control condition showing that shifts were related to exposure to a deviant source and not to response repetition.

Minority influence and social categorization:a replication

The effects of ingroup and outgroup minorities upon public and private levels of influence was examined. The results show that whilst ingroup minorities have greater influence in public, outgroup minorities can have as much, if not more influence than ingroup minorities when responses are made in private. These results are consistent with previous research and support the social identijkation model of social influence.