Global technology and Knowledge Management: product development in Brazilian car industry

Multinational innovative and Knowledge Management strategies are likely to reflect the interaction of industry-specific technological characteristics, firm-specific advantages, strategies and context-specific factors. Two different types of strategies are discussed: Adaptive knowledge-exploiting activities, mainly oriented to adapt products/processes to the specific features of local markets; and Knowledge-seeking activities, oriented to develop distinctive knowledge assets and technological capabilities. This paper discuss the limits of the knowledge seeking vs. adaptive category, as the empirical evidence suggests that the multinational organisation of knowledge transfer is much more complex. An evolutionary approach is proposed to appreciate the different trajectories of foreign affiliates.