Project Globe

஽ Academy of Management Executive, 2005, Vol. 19, No. 2

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Cross-border transfer of

knowledge: Cultural lessons

from Project GLOBE

Mansour Javidan, Gunter K. Stahl, Felix Brodbeck, and Celeste P.M. Wilderom

¨

Executive Overview

Distant cross-border business is on the rise. It necessitates effective transfer of

knowledge across geographic and cultural borders. In this article we present the key

results from the GLOBE study of 62 cultures and apply them to a real-life case of a North

European business school designing and offering a substantial executive development

program for a large South Asian corporation. We show how cultural differences can

complicate the successful transfer of knowledge across borders and make

recommendations on how executives can better manage the complex task of transferring

knowledge across cultures. We provide advice on how GLOBE findings can be used to

better manage the content and process issues in such transfers.

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cess of MNCs, it is also critical to transferring any

work-related operation across national or cultural

boundaries.

In this article we illustrate and sum up our recent understanding of how differences in national

cultures impact the dynamics and outcomes of

cross-border knowledge transfer. We portray and

analyze a real-life case in which the cross-border

knowledge transfer was not well managed. We

apply the recent findings of the GLOBE project.

They enable us to pinpoint differences and similarities in the two national cultures involved in the

case. We also reflect on how the findings from the

GLOBE study can be used to inform managers

seeking to transfer...