How Existing Organizational Practices Affect the Transfer of Practices to International Joint Ventures

This study examines whether and how far the existence of prior organizational practices affects the transfer of new practices in the context of international joint ventures. Based on 324 pairs of survey responses collected from joint ventures set up by either Hong Kong or Singapore companies in mainland China, the results indicate that similarity between new and existing practices decreases while entrenchment of existing practices increases the difficulty of transfer. These two effects are moderated by the ownership—Chinese versus foreign—of existing practices. Transferring new practices that substitute for Chinese practices is more difficult than transferring practices that substitute for foreign practices or than transferring brand new practices.