Knowledge flows and learning at interorganisational level: implications for management in multinational corporations

Strategic management literature states that organisational knowledge is a valuable source of competitive advantage for the organisation. Thus, firms must know how to manage this strategic resource in an effective and efficient way as well as how to renew their source of competitive advantage through organisational learning. On one hand, the analysis of organisational knowledge encompasses two dimensions. First, the epistemological level differentiates between tacit and explicit knowledge. Second, the ontological level traditionally encompasses learning at individual, group and organisational level. On the other hand, organisational learning represents a multiprocess where the following knowledge-related processes take place: intuition and interpretation, integration and institutionalisation. Finally, in an international context, the analysis of organisational learning becomes even more complex when an additional level of analysis is added: the interorganisational level.