The purpose of this analysis and diagnosis step is to validate the causes retrieved during the problem definition step. By means of validation interviews and theoretical analysis more explanatory power is provided for the causes and their relationship. This analysis and diagnosis was necessary to validate these causes and to discover their underlying relationships. Important for the problem specification of this thesis is to discover what are the causes/root causes that finally effect the knowledge transfer of expats with international assignment experience upon other organization members. By means of the results from the validation interviews and theoretical analysis it was possible to refine the cause and effect diagram towards a more validated diagram that represents a more realistic representation of which causes direct or indirect influence this transfer. In figure 4 this refined cause and effect diagram is depicted. Within the next subsection a recap on the results will clarify moreover how these causes are related to the central problem. While there could be much more causes that relate to the central problem, this cause and effect diagram only represents the causes retrieved from the empirical-based investigation and the theoretical analysis that was feasible in the time span of this thesis.
4.3.1 Recap on causal relationships (CR)
As already identified, HR managers are responsible for initiating knowledge management systems (KMS) and the knowledge management (KM) within organizations(Skelin, 1999; Soliman & Spooner, 2000; Yahya & Goh, 2002). The majority of the respondents confirmed this while some respondents state that line-managers are responsible for the input of the KMS. While this minority state that line- managers are responsible for the input, they state that signaling the need and the initiation of a KMS comes from HRM employees. According to several respondents and (Antal, 2001a; Shen & Hall, 2009; Vinogradova et al., 2012) HR managers lack international experiences and therefore cannot
University of Twente | Master thesis Business Administration Tom Oude Luttikhuis manage the KMS/KM of international experiences optimally within organizations (CR1). According to Bhatt (2001) knowledge management can be defined as ” a process of knowledge creation, validation, presentation, distribution, and application”(Bhatt, 2001, p. 71). “The objective of KMS is to support creation, transfer, and application of knowledge in organizations”(Alavi & Leidner, 2001, p. 107). While expatriate assignments are by far the most intensive mechanism to create international experiences (Gupta & Govindarajan, 2002; Lovvorn & Chen, 2011; Nummela et al., 2004), the
respondents and (Antal, 2001a; Vinogradova et al., 2012) state that expat assignments are not designed to transfer knowledge back (CR2). According to Som (2009) the expatriate assignment cycle contains three phases: selection and preparation, actual assignment and repatriation. Because the knowledge management of international experiences is limited and the expatriate assignment is only designed to transfer knowledge to the host country, organizations lack to create, transfer and apply international experiences during these phases of the expatriate assignment cycle. According to the respondents, the preparation of the expat assignments concerning what international experience is needed upon assignment and what international experience is valuable for the organization is poor. Respondent no. 3 e.g. claims:”International experience is of major importance for doing successfully business. I’m convinced about this. The organization didn’t prepared me at all for my assignment and they didn’t explained what international experience is needed and what is of value for the organization”(CR4). Indistinctness about what international experience is needed and valuable results in the conversion from specific knowledge during the assignment into tacit knowledge (Antal, 2001a) (CR7). According to the majority of the respondents and (Antal, 2001a; Vinogradova et al., 2012) there was also during the actual assignment barely communication between the expats and headquarter (CR3). Not
communicating results directly in a limited transfer of knowledge. Respondent no. 8 e.g. argues:”In general a lot of international experiences are transferred back upon the organization, because we have frequent contact with our expats. This communication during the expat assignment became more structured the last years” (CR13). When there is barely communication, specific knowledge overtime converts into tacit knowledge (Antal, 2001). Antal (2001) interviewed several expats for her research. One of them explained:”for me it is all mixed up” (450-451). According to him, there are a lot of little things he learned abroad and which are relevant for his job in Germany now, but he found it difficult to identify them explicitly. In other words, what he had learned had been converted into tacit
knowledge and was therefore not easy to express”(Antal, 2001a, p. 66)(CR6). Due to the poor preparation and poor communication the degree of tacitness increases. According to the respondents the emphasis for the international experiences gained and that should be transferred are therefore predominantly on the explicit experience of the market(CR8). According to (Antal, 2001, p. 70)”the majority of the respondents clearly felt that the gap between what they learned and what the
organization has absorbed and used is too large. They consider it a problem that too little value is drawn for the organization from their learning”(CR14).“Whereas explicit knowledge is formal, systematic and can be articulated, tacit knowledge is personal and not easily expressed for the individual”(Södersten & Westman Wall, 2009, p. 9(CR9). The respondents mutually agree that when these international experiences are stored predominantly in the heads of the expats, the chance for a loss of knowledge when something happens is inevitable. For example respondent no. 3 states: “When an expat leaves or something happens to him/her, than all the international experiences gained by this expat will be gone”(CR15). The reason why these international experiences are transferred
predominantly informal is because tacit knowledge lacks structure (Herschel et al., 2001)(CR10). According to Vinogradova et al., (2012, p. 22)”With the exception of one company using a form of debriefing upon return, the companies have no formal routines and procedures in place for capturing and enabling knowledge transfer”. Respondent no. 2 stated:”What we try to accomplish first within our organization is to transfer the international experiences of the culture in which we were adjusted. This happens informal. Due to the fact this happens informal it is difficult to document this or to create procedures for this”(CR16). Due to the tacit nature of the international experiences organizations are not aware what should be shared. Respondent no. 3 states: “the responsibility for this knowledge sharing is upon me because the organization doesn’t know what should be shared”(CR11). Also the respondents state that they are responsible for the knowledge sharing because of the poor preparation before the assignment. Respondent no.6 stated:”Before the assignment I wasn’t prepared by the organization because this was new to them. Therefore I was responsible for the knowledge sharing and not the organization”(CR12). When not the organizations but the expats are responsible for the
University of Twente | Master thesis Business Administration Tom Oude Luttikhuis
Figure 4: refined cause and effect diagram
knowledge sharing, this could limit the transfer from international experiences. Respondent no. 3 states: “the knowledge sharing comes from myself. I decide what I want to share or not. There is no link between me and the organization concerning this knowledge sharing or what should be
shared”(CR17). Finally, during the last phase of the expatriate cycle organizations also lack to create, transfer and apply international experiences. During this phase it’s of major importance for
organizations to offer expats a new job if they want to capitalize upon the international experiences gained by their expats (Lazarova & Caligiuri, 2002; Stahl et al., 2009)(CR5). Lazarova & Caligiuri, (2002, p. 399) state: “Despite the strategic and financial importance of repatriates, there is plentiful evidence that MNCs often fail to capitalize on these human investments, because many of their assignees leave the company after the assignment is completed”. Respondent no.3 stated: “ If there is no new job after assignment, expats will go to the competitors and all international experiences contained by this expat will be lost for the company. Respondent no.4 stated: “The reason why
University of Twente | Master thesis Business Administration Tom Oude Luttikhuis international experiences weren’t transferred upon the organization, was because the expat left the company directly after assignment” Respondent no. 5 explained: “ the person adjusted before me on this location left the company directly after the assignment. Therefore the international experiences contained by this person couldn’t be transferred upon me(CR18).