This interview-based study of eight multinational corporations (MNCs) in five industries investigates varying patterns of cross-site knowledge sharing associated with MNCs pursuing global, multidomestic, and transnational strategies. The study revealed considerable polarization in knowledge-sharing practices between MNCs implementing transnational and global strategies, with cross-site knowledge sharing being of very high intensity among the former and quite minimal among the latter. MNCs pursuing global, multidomestic, and transnational strategies each tended to share qualitatively different kinds of knowledge as well. The relationship between MNC strategy and intrafirm knowledge sharing is encapsulated in a framework that bridges two hitherto largely separate research streams: the integration-responsiveness framework and knowledge-management studies of the MNC.
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