• International Area Studies Review
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.209-237
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• 2012

Multinational enterprises(MNEs) try to strengthen their global innovative capabilities by incorporating the foreign subsidiaries' knowledge bases. Foreign subsidiaries play an important role in MNEs' knowledge creation activities. This study develops a strategy model that strengthening the knowledge creation capabilities of Korean firms' foreign subsidiaries. Four strengthening strategy types are derived from three research areas related with center of excellence, subsidiary strategic roles, and knowledge creation capabilities. The strategies that strengthen knowledge creation capabilities are including organizational culture and autonomy reinforcing strategy, subsidiary's absorptive capacity reinforcing strategy, local environment management strategy, and network building strategy. Strategic fit conditions which support the success of each strategy type are also discussed.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.221-249
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• 2014

This study analyzed the sufficient conditions for Korean firm's foreign subsidiaries in order to evolve into a center of excellence for knowledge creation and diffusion. In this respect, the purpose of this study is to develop a new framework based on literatures related to subsidiary knowledge creation and a center of excellence. Specifically, we created seven decisive factors for subsidiary knowledge creation: two general factors, two strategic important factors, and three excellent factors. Each factor can be a necessary condition or sufficient condition according to research purpose. For example, the decentralized organizational structure belonging to general factors become a sufficient factor for facilitating subsidiary's knowledge creation but it become a necessary condition for a center of excellence because all subsidiaries with decentralized organizational structure cannot be strategically important subsidiaries. By using seven decisive factors, this study examines the determinants' validity theoretically and practically.