Karina Jensen, San Andrés

«Facilitating Global Innovation and Cross-cultural Collaboration: The
Role of Knowledge Governance Mechanisms in Conceiving and Executing
Innovation Strategies.»

Abstract
Organizations are increasingly faced with the challenge of navigating
a dynamic marketplace that demands a rapid time to market,
customer-centric focus, and continuous innovation on a global scale.
The inability of geographically distributed teams to effectively share
and communicate relevant market information between headquarters and
local subsidiaries can result in a lack of product innovation, delayed
product introductions, and reduced sales and market opportunities.
This presentation addresses the organizational mechanisms that enhance
cross-cultural team interaction processes with the objective of
creating and sharing knowledge that contributes to successful product
introductions worldwide. In showing the interdependence of new product
planning and execution, the presentation shows a collaborative
framework that can help MNEs and managers effectively conceive and
execute innovation strategies. Drawing from resource and
knowledge-based views, this qualitative study involves interviews with
86 participating senior managers responsible for global product
launches and cross-cultural teams at 32 MNEs based in Europe, Asia,
and the US. The findings contribute to a conceptual model that
identifies knowledge governance mechanisms for facilitating the
conception and execution of global product innovation strategies.