Knowledge as a network package: aspects of transfer and translation in international business

Professor Nigel J Holden©Lancashire Business School, UK__________________11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, PortugalSeptember 2010

Overview of presentation

Opening salvoThe world we are inKnowledge as a network packageTranslation as an analogue of knowledge

transferModelling transfer as translation‘Even though we work hard ...’

Opening salvo

In order to understand how to make KM more productive in international business, the world needs all the help it can get.

The world we are in …

‘Every day in the domain of worldwide business, millions of cross-cultural interactions take place, linking buyers with suppliers and suppliers with customers and an array of stakeholders. Relationships are forged and networks are consolidated ....’

The world we are ...

These buyers, suppliers and stakeholders ‘are engaged in immense acts of knowledge co-creation, involving the cross-cultural blending and integration of information, perceptions and—in a high proportion of cases—mistaken impressions’ (Holden and Glisby, 2010).

Knowledge as a ‘process-relational’* network packageA process-relational network package of explicit

and tacit elements intended for (very) different operational environments or contexts

Knowledge is assembled in networks for use in other networks

So the art of KM ... *(Nonaka et al., 2008)

The art of KM ...

Lies in converting a knowledge package, designed in one environment (or culture) , into a package that does not merely suit, but resonates with the network characteristics of the target environment(s).

This means more than mere transfer …

Transfer and translation as metaphor

‘ “Translating” one’s knowledge from one’s own cultural context …’ (Hurn, 1996)

In a knowledge transfer process ‘knowledge is translated into a form usable by others’ (Dixon, 2000)

‘… translating new knowledge into new ways of behaving’ (Garvin, 1998)

Knowledge in organisation exists to be ‘translated into manageable topics’ (Bukh et al., 2005)

But what about translation as an analogue of the KM transfer process?

Translation intelligibly transposes meanings from one cultural environment into another environment

The goal is (almost) always a good translation (it has to be!)

So can we learn something useful from what constrains a good translation?

Levels of translation adequacy

1. Virtually all the

information is

conveyed

4. The general idea is

conveyed

2. Most of the

information is

conveyed 3. Sufficient informatio

n is conveyed for action

or decision

Based on Pinchuk,

1977

By analogy,

what level of

‘translation

adequacy’ are KM

professionalssatisfied

with?

Three constraints on a good translation

Glisby and Holden©

Lack of equivalenceExamples from language

Russia: KM terminology in Russian

Buzz words like ’change’, ’excellence’, ‘empower’, ‘resilience.’

Forms of address (use of names and titles), words for ’you’

Real-world examples: networks

West: straight lines and nodes

Japan: human pulsations

China: pull of family obligations with a cautious eye on the authorities

Cultural interferenceExamples from

language

Japanese English: ‘It is (very) difficult’

English German: ‘ Ich glaube schon’ (I think so)

World English: ‘No problem!’

Real-world examples

China: failure to translate a technical document for a foreign employer and the unforeseen consequences

Russia: waste of 3bn euros on EU-funded management programmes (1991-2003)

Any international merger

AmbiguityExamples from language

Russian English: ‘Aviator course’ for ‘pilot scheme’

Japanese English: ‘blue’ may be ‘green’ to non-Japanese

Any document that claims to be ‘an in-depth analysis’

Real-world examples which change situations

The translator or interpreter adds or withholds information to be ‘helpful’ or polite

Failures to make sense of others’ contexts (often through ethnocentric presumption)

Model of network knowledge creation

Source: Holden, N. J. and Glisby, M. © (2010)

TACIT CORRIDORS

Individual

OrganizationNetwork Organization

coupling

coupling

coupling

Towards another modelThe previous model is theoretically useful,

but we need something serviceable for practitioners

Premise 1: knowledge flows in international business are disrupted or put under strain at interfaces involving individuals and organisations

Premise 2: knowledge flows are improved or repaired by coupling through identifying and neutralising the impacts due to lack of equivalence, cultural interference and ambiguity

Glisby and Holden@

This model has great potential if managers if ...

Managers accept that tacit knowledge:

is crossed-culturally created at all manner of interfaces;

acts as a subliminal influence on relationships and, by extension, KM as a practice;

combines language and cultural factors to add mood and tone to this knowledge.

It’s all about the right antenna. ..

'Even though we work hard, if we do not have an antenna that can sense a signal, we cannot pick it up.’

- Yasuhito Takasu, General Manager, DENSO Corporation (cited in Holden and Glisby, 2010)

Thank you very much for your attention.

References Bukh, P., Johansen, M. and Mouritsen, J. (2005). Developing the strategy

for knowledge management. In: Bukh, P., Christensen, K. and Mouritsen, J. (eds). Knowledge management and intellectual capital. London: Palgrave, pp. 70-84.

Dixon, N. (2000). Common knowledge: how companies thrive by sharing what they know. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Garvin, D. (1998). Building a learning organization. Harvard Business Review on knowledge management. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Holden, N. J. and Glisby, M. (2010). Creating knowledge advantage: the tacit dimensions of international competition and collaboration. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press.

Hurn, B. (1996). Intercultural transfer of skills and knowledge. Cross-cultural management: An international journal. Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 18-31.

Nonaka, I., Toyama, R. and Hirata, T. (2008). Managing flow: A process theory of the knowledge-based firm. London: Palgrave.

Pinchuk, I. (1977). Scientific and technical translation. London: André Deutsch