MIB Master of International Business: Global Management of Innovation & Knowledge 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which organizational structure best supports open innovation by allowing external ideas to flow in alongside internal R&D?
- Closed hierarchical structure
- Ambidextrous organization
- Permeable boundary model (Correct answer)
- Functional silo model
Correct answer: Permeable boundary model
A permeable boundary model deliberately opens the firm's borders so external knowledge, partners, and technologies can integrate with internal innovation processes.
Question 2: A multinational firm wants to leverage local market knowledge while maintaining global R&D coherence. Which knowledge management approach is most appropriate?
- Centralized codification
- Transnational knowledge sharing (Correct answer)
- Polycentric isolation
- Ethnocentric control
Correct answer: Transnational knowledge sharing
Transnational knowledge sharing combines local responsiveness with global integration, allowing subsidiaries to both contribute and access the global knowledge pool.
Question 3: What is 'absorptive capacity' in the context of international knowledge management?
- A firm's physical storage capacity for data
- The ability to recognize, assimilate, and apply external knowledge (Correct answer)
- A measure of R&D lab square footage
- The speed at which patents are filed
Correct answer: The ability to recognize, assimilate, and apply external knowledge
Absorptive capacity, coined by Cohen and Levinthal, refers to a firm's ability to identify valuable external knowledge, assimilate it, and apply it commercially.
Question 4: In global innovation networks, what is the primary risk of relying heavily on a single 'center of excellence'?
- Excessive patent filings
- Knowledge concentration creating a single point of failure (Correct answer)
- Too much employee autonomy
- Over-diversification of product lines
Correct answer: Knowledge concentration creating a single point of failure
Over-reliance on one center of excellence creates vulnerability if that unit loses key talent, faces political disruption, or becomes misaligned with market needs.
Question 5: Which concept describes the geographic clustering of firms, suppliers, and institutions that accelerates innovation in a specific industry?
- Global value chain
- Innovation cluster (Correct answer)
- Transnational network
- Knowledge silo
Correct answer: Innovation cluster
Innovation clusters (e.g., Silicon Valley, Cambridge biotech) concentrate related firms and institutions, enabling rapid knowledge spillovers and collaborative innovation.
Question 6: A company uses 'communities of practice' across its global offices. What is the primary benefit of this approach?
- Reducing headcount through automation
- Facilitating informal knowledge sharing across geographic boundaries (Correct answer)
- Standardizing all product specifications globally
- Eliminating the need for formal training programs
Correct answer: Facilitating informal knowledge sharing across geographic boundaries
Communities of practice allow practitioners with shared domains to exchange tacit knowledge informally, bridging geographic and organizational silos.
Question 7: When a firm acquires a foreign company primarily to gain access to its proprietary technology, this strategy is best described as:
- Market-seeking FDI
- Knowledge-seeking FDI (Correct answer)
- Efficiency-seeking FDI
- Resource-seeking FDI
Correct answer: Knowledge-seeking FDI
Knowledge-seeking FDI targets the acquisition of technological capabilities, patents, or skilled human capital rather than market access or cost reduction.
MIB Master of International Business: Global Management of Innovation & Knowledge 2
Which organizational structure best supports open innovation by allowing external ideas to flow in alongside internal R&D?