Knowledge transfer isn’t simply transfer: Mutual and individual-based learning in international joint ventures in Vietnam

This paper examines micro dynamic aspects of knowledge sharing and learning in international joint venture settings. Learning of expatriate and local managers appears far more complex and mutually dependent than conventionally speculated in existing literature. The paper proposes that the effect and outcome of knowledge transfer from joint venture parents and learning in IJVs are dependent on how individual managers (including both expatriate and local) learn, perceive their learning roles, and enact a learning agenda. Empirical evidence is drawn from two cases of international joint ventures between Danish and Vietnamese firms. The paper suggests that learning in IJVs, even in the context of one-way knowledge transfer from the foreign parent, should be managed in a mutual perspective and with thoughtful coordination of individual learning.