Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Pamela Chidiogo Izunwanne
significant.However, a more interesting insight might be gained by studying <strong>the</strong> interaction between
<strong>the</strong> formal and <strong>the</strong> informal aspects <strong>of</strong> organizational structure as far as knowledge creation is
concerned. It would also be insightful to investigate <strong>the</strong> difference in knowledge creation performance
between MNCs that do not formalize <strong>the</strong>ir knowledge creation activities and those thatformally
structure <strong>the</strong>ir knowledge organization taking into account, individual and aggregate level objectives
(macro and micro level perspectives); <strong>the</strong> challenges associated with knowledge creation (market,
institutional and employee factors) and <strong>the</strong> different phases in <strong>the</strong> knowledge creation activity or chain
shown in figure 2.
Table 2: Proposed relationships
MNC Organizational
Structure
Multidomestic
Reporting relationships:
subsidiaries/ Headquarters
Low integration
and Low exchanges
Global High Integration and High
exchanges
Transnational Medium integration and
medium exchanges
Routines/processes Knowledge Creation
Decentralized
systems
Fast
Efficient
Low quality
Low productivity
Integrated routines Slow
Inefficient
High quality
Semi-integrated
routines
High productivity
Medium speed
Medium efficiency
Medium quality
Medium productivity
This study would like to suggest that for future research involving <strong>the</strong> organizational structure <strong>of</strong>
MNCs, <strong>the</strong> unique attributes <strong>of</strong> transnational firms should be studied seperately not just in comparison
with global and multidomestic firms. It is also possible to develop original classifications based on
different combinations <strong>of</strong> diverse categories. It would also be interesting to link <strong>the</strong> different stages <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> knowledge creation activity or chain to o<strong>the</strong>r constructs in order to fur<strong>the</strong>r illuminate <strong>the</strong> issues
affecting or being affected by knowledge creation in organizations.
Acknowledgements
The Author would like to thank Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Joyce Ellen Falkenberg for her contributions. Her comments
were useful in <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> this paper.
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