Knowledge Generation across Cultural Boundaries

Theoretical Background
 

The generation of a specific knowledge level for companies and their individual ability to generate new knowledge through learning processes emerge as increasingly crucial determinants of entrepreneurial competitiveness. In this context, progressive globalization provides the opportunity to use cultural diversities actively in the process of knowledge generation based on an increasingly intercultural personnel structure. This may stimulate organizational learning as well as learning on an individual level of employees.
 

Objective
 

The focal aim is to search for factors, both drivers and barriers, of effective knowledge generation in the context of cultural diversities.
 

Methods
 

To achieve the outlined research objectives, qualitative and quantitative methods are employed. A comprehensive literature analysis regarding knowledge generation across cultural boundaries is conducted. In parallel or subsequently, a survey at company level is carried out. This survey inquires the basic coherences of knowledge in alliances. Subsequently, data of our empirical study, which is analyzed by advanced statistical methods, sheds more light on this issue. Thus, causal relationships of knowledge generation and cultural diversity are identified.
 

Selected Publications
 

What does Collectivism mean for Leadership and Teamwork Performance? An Empirical Study in Professional Service Firms (Ricarda B. Bouncken, Aim-Orn Imcharoen, Willma Klassen-Van Husen), in: Journal of International Business and Economics (JIBE), Nr. 2, 2007, S. 1 - 13.

Cultural Diversity in Entrepreneurial Teams: Findings of New Ventures in Germany and the UK (Ricarda B. Bouncken, Keith J. Perks), in: International Journal of Business Research (IJBR), Nr. 1, 2005, S. 55 – 75.