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How firms build isolating mechanisms for knowledge: A study in offshore research and development captives

  • Ohio State University
  • Indian School of Business
  • Rice University

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Understanding how firms protect their knowledge from leakage is becoming increasingly important, especially when knowledge is not well protected by legal mechanisms such as patents. The rapid rise in research and development (R&D) activities taking place in offshore locations that only offer weak legal protection for intellectual property provides the ideal context to study this question. Using interview and survey data from captive R&D centers of multinational firms in India, we (1) identify five organizational practices that firms use to protect their knowledge from leaking to competitors in offshore locations, (2) consider whether these practices limit knowledge leakage or limit damage from leaked knowledge, and (3) explore whether they are complements or substitutes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)98-116
Number of pages19
JournalStrategy Science
Volume5
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2020

Keywords

  • Knowledge leakage
  • Knowledge stickiness
  • Knowledge system dependence
  • Organization design
  • Research and development (R&D) offshoring
  • Trade secrets protection
  • Weak intellectual property (IP) regimes

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