Abstract: According to the Resource-Based View, sustainable competitive advantage is achieved through obtaining ‘valuable, rare and imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable assets’ and this is reflected by modern organizations shifting their emphasis from tangible assets to knowledge assets. One approach to establishing competitive advantage is through acquiring those of other organisations. This research examines the transfer, replication and adaption of assets and capabilities in MG Rover from the British workforce to the new Chinese owners and employees at Nanjing Automotive Corporation (NAC). The study explores the intra-organisational processes adopted to transfer both technological and tacit knowledge and develop innovation capabilities. The study identifies distinctive mechanisms for both ‘discrete’ transfers and ‘cumulative’ flows of knowledge and capabilities, with different kinds of impact on the innovative capacity of the recipient firm. With the more recent take-over of NAC by SAIC the MG-NAC restructuring is examined as part of the broader evolution of a large, innovative and multinational Chinese car firm.
Central Meeting Room 15, The Open University
Abstract: According to the Resource-Based View, sustainable competitive advantage is achieved through obtaining ‘valuable, rare and imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable assets’ and this is reflected by modern organizations shifting their emphasis from tangible assets to knowledge assets. One approach to establishing competitive advantage is through acquiring those of other organisations. This research examines the transfer, replication and adaption of assets and capabilities in MG Rover from the British workforce to the new Chinese owners and employees at Nanjing Automotive Corporation (NAC). The study explores the intra-organisational processes adopted to transfer both technological and tacit knowledge and develop innovation capabilities. The study identifies distinctive mechanisms for both ‘discrete’ transfers and ‘cumulative’ flows of knowledge and capabilities, with different kinds of impact on the innovative capacity of the recipient firm. With the more recent take-over of NAC by SAIC the MG-NAC restructuring is examined as part of the broader evolution of a large, innovative and multinational Chinese car firm.
Central Meeting Room 15, The Open University
Lunch at 12.30pm, Seminar 1.00 – 2.30pm
If you would like to attend, please contact
Ann Cardy by Monday 16 February
Email: a.cardy@open.ac.uk - Telephone: 01908 655520
If you would like to attend, please contact
Ann Cardy by Monday 16 February
Email: a.cardy@open.ac.uk - Telephone: 01908 655520