Determinants of reverse knowledge transfer for emerging market multinationals: the role of complexity, autonomy and embeddedness

Abstract

Subsidiaries conduct innovation activities in foreign markets either to capture valuable knowledge that is necessary to adapt their products to local markets or to create valuable knowledge for headquarters. For emerging market multinationals, most studies have overlooked the determinants of successful reverse knowledge transfer from subsidiaries located in emerging and developed markets. This paper analyzed the responses of a survey administered to 78 Brazilian multinationals that own subsidiaries in developed and emerging markets. We found that knowledge complexity developed at the subsidiary, its autonomy and embeddedness in the foreign market determine the successful reverse knowledge transfer to headquarters of emerging market multinationals. This paper contributes to previous studies of reverse knowledge transfer by underlying the main drivers for emerging market multinationals.