| CROSS-CULTURAL LEARNING ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL JOINT VENTURES DAVID POLLARD and JACKY F.L. HONG Issue 22 (Vol. 11 No. 2) pp. 53-78 During the 1990s, there was a remarkable increase of interest in learning in International Joint Ventures (IJVs). The work of Kogut (1988) and later Hamel (1991) - whose oft-cited paper has had a considerable impact on shaping the course of research in organisational learning - helped to form a primary focus on understanding and mastering the mechanisms and processes of knowledge acquisition in IJVs (Inkpen 1996, 1998). IJVs are generally considered as effective mechanisms for organisations seeking to acquire new skills and competences or new markets, at the same time sharing strategic payoffs with other firms - in fact many firms specifically seek new knowledge as part of the IJV operation. The current IJV literature tends to emphasise the importance of initial conditions, while the evolution of ventures is given rather less attention (Doz, 1996). However, both initial and evolutionary aspects are important in considering IJV learning. Failure to achieve initial learning objectives, changes in the relative bargaining power and lack of trust between partner organisations are often identified as problems which may lead to the premature dissolution of IJVs. The nature of IJVs is one of cross-border co-operation, yet one of the least-represented areas of research is that of cross-cultural effects on learning. This cross-cultural dimension is important because it affects the way people share information and learning. Furthermore, the transfer of tacit knowledge would be expected to encounter more difficulties than that of transferring explicit knowledge. Due to the hard-to-articulate nature of tacit knowledge, the transfer process involves the sharing not only of information, but also of its implied meanings, anecdotal experiences and examples, heuristics and metaphors. Communication of these types of implicit data requires extensive involvement in human interactions such as dialogue, joint problem solving, experience-sharing, modelling, etc. Communications barriers and misunderstandings, occurring during different kinds of sharing processes, provide another kind of challenge to effective knowledge management in IJVs. There are similar cross-cultural implications for the sharing of knowledge through training and problems for expatriate staff in acquisition and transfer of knowledge within the venture. This paper explores cross-cultural aspects of learning in IJVs, utilising case study investigations, and draws out some initial issues that may inform both management thinking and future research. |