Managerial knowledge-sharing in chaebols and its impact on the performance of their foreign subsidiaries

In a sample of 172 of the largest chaebol firms, included in 51 chaebols, and 1057 foreign subsidiaries, we tested the association between foreign subsidiary performance and the procedural and coordinative knowledge-sharing across peer group-affiliated companies (GACs) within the chaebol, as well as the knowledge transfer between the chaebol headquarter unit and its foreign subsidiary. We found three interesting results. First, coordinative knowledge-sharing has a stronger impact on subsidiary performance than procedural knowledge-sharing does. Second, in the case of headquarters-subsidiary knowledge transfer, coordinative knowledge-sharing is positively and significantly associated with subsidiary performance, but procedural knowledge-sharing is negatively and significantly associated with subsidiary performance. Finally, organizational ambidexterity in deploying both procedural and coordinative knowledge-sharing is positively and significantly related to subsidiary performance.