2014 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Knowledge Management for Foreign Direct Investments: Comparative Analysis of Japanese and Foreign Inbound and Outbound Investments
| Project/Area Number |
26380497
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| Research Institution | University of Tsukuba |
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Principal Investigator |
マニエー渡邊 レミー 筑波大学, ビジネスサイエンス系, 准教授 (00527848)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
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| Keywords | Knowledge Management / Foreign Investment / Cross-country comparison |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Concerning research question #1, the foundations of knowledge as economic input were clarified (Magnier-Watanabe, 2014). This paper contends that knowledge should be treated and managed as an economic factor of production on par with land, labor, and capital. The proposed model of knowledge based on breadth and depth can be applied for the firm to assess its existing stock of knowledge, spot knowledge gaps and the cost to fill them, and identify core knowledge worth safeguarding.
Next, two comparative studies of knowledge management in domestic and foreign-affiliated firms in Japan (Benton, C. and Magnier-Watanabe, 2014), and in Japanese firms in Japan and Italian firms in Italy (Secundo, Magnier-Watanabe, and Heisig, 2014) were conducted. The first one found that managers at Japanese-owned firms exhibited significantly higher levels of commitment, while those at foreign-affiliated firms reported greater levels of public knowledge storage and explorative knowledge application. The second one revealed that engineers wish to retrieve narrow task and explicit knowledge domains related to experiential and systemic knowledge assets from past work, and to capture broader experiential knowledge for future projects, with notable differences between countries. That paper received the Best Full Paper Award in the Knowledge and Learning category.
Regarding research question #2, using in-depth interviews conducted in Japan with foreign companies, a paper mapping foreign direct investment strategies in Japan was presented at a conference in the US (Magnier-Watanabe and Lemaire, 2014).
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
This research project relies heavily on cooperation with foreign-based researchers. Sometimes, coordination and communication take time, but so far, the research is progressing according to plan.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The next step include 1) further analysis of knowledge management data from 20 countries, gathered with partner researchers around the world; the results will be submitted to an international conference and to an international journal, 2) in-depth interviews of Japanese firms investing in the US to map their investment strategies and compare them to those identified in Japan, and 3) conduct a large questionnaire survey of those same Japanese companies in the US.
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