The value of reverse knowledge transfer: Case of Austrian Bank subsidiary in Slovakia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15549/jeecar.v10i5.1253Keywords:
reverse knowledge transfer, case study, Slovakia, Central Europe, banking industryAbstract
This research focuses on reverse knowledge transfer from Central Europe to Western Europe by analyzing the contribution of a specific Slovak subsidiary to MNC knowledge. It explores the first digital bank created in Slovakia, its origin, expectations, results, and expertise transmitted from the daughter company to the Austrian headquarters. The paper analyses the situation of Raiffeisen Bank International, headquartered in Vienna, and its digital daughter company ZUNO founded in Slovakia in 2010. It identifies the learnings transferred to the parent in digital banking, marketing, operational, HR, and strategic management. The authors also study subsidiary integration within MNC, alignment of its structure and processes with the parent and conclude that the new knowledge generation was especially valuable in digital banking, at work with new client segments, in implementing new forms of marketing, working with new technologies, creating new structures, and transferring them to the other foreign markets.
References
Aktuality.sk. (2016). Banka ZUNO končí. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from https://www.aktuality.sk/clanok/378472
Ambos, T. C., Ambos, B., & Schlegelmilch, B. B. (2006). Learning from foreign subsidiaries: An empirical investigation of headquarters’ benefits from reverse knowledge transfers. International Business Review, 15(3), 294-312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2006.01.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2006.01.002
Arzner, S. (2017). Case of reverse knowledge transfer. Raiffeisen Bank International. November 17, 2017, Interviewers – S. Ferenčíková, J. Hrdličková
Arzner, S. (2019). Learning from Zuno case. International. Raiffeisen Bank International. November 8, 2019, Interviewer – S. Ferenčíková
Borini, F. M., de Miranda Oliveira Jr., M., Freitas Silveira, F., & de Oliveira Concer, R. (2012). The reverse transfer of innovation of foreign subsidiaries of Brazilian multinationals. European Management Journal, 30(3), 219–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2012.03.012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2012.03.012
Burmeister, A., Deller, J., Osland, J., Szkudlarek, B., Oddou, G. & Blakeney, R. (2015). The micro-processes during repatriate knowledge transfer: the repatriates’ perspective. Journal of Knowledge Management, 19(4), 735–755. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-01-2015-0011 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-01-2015-0011
Burmeister, A., Lazarova, M. B., & Deller, J. (2018). Repatriate knowledge transfer: Antecedents and boundary conditions of a dyadic process. Journal of World Business, 53(6), 806–816. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2018.06.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2018.06.004
Dabic, M., & Kiessling, T. (2019). The performance implications of knowledge management and strategic alignment of MNC subsidiaries. Journal of Knowledge Management, 23(8), 1477–1501. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-03-2019-0129 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-03-2019-0129
Ferenčíková, S. (2020). KBC Group – BAWAG P.S.K.: A Case Study of a Cross-Border Acquisition in Banking Industry. Bratislava, Economic University, mimeo
Ferenčíková, S., & Hrdličková, J. (2020). Reverse knowledge transfer from Central to Western Europe: Selected Case Studies. Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research, 7(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.15549/jeecar.v7i1.340 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15549/jeecar.v7i1.340
Ferenčíková, S., & Šestáková, M. (2014). Transformation of the Banking Sector In Slovakia. Contributions to International Business (-1st ed.). University of Vaasa Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.13140/2.1.1282.3362
Ferenčíková, S. & Pucik, V. (2004). A shotgun wedding: creating a leading Czech bank. IMD Lausanne
Froese, F. J., Stoermer, S., Reiche, B. S., & Klar, S. (2021). Best of both worlds: How embeddedness fits in the host unit and the headquarters improve repatriate knowledge transfer. Journal of International Business Studies, 52(7), 1331–1349. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-020-00356-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-020-00356-4
Frynas, J., & Mellahi, K. (2005). Global Strategic Management. 2nd ed. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Hasan, M., & Zhou, S. N. (2015). Knowledge Management in Global Organizations. International Business Research, 8(6), 165–173. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ibr.v8n6p165 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5539/ibr.v8n6p165
Interview with XY, Country management team member, Bratislava. September 8, 2021. Interviewer – S. Ferencikova
Interview with WZ, Country management team member, Bratislava. October 23, 2021. Interviewer – S. Ferencikova
Jankowska, B., Bartosik-Purgat, M., & Olejnik, I. (2021). The reverse transfer of knowledge in MNEs: the perspective of foreign subsidiaries in a post-transition country. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 22(6), 1082–1105. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-07-2020-0247 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-07-2020-0247
Kosno, L. (2016, October 25). Analytici: Prečo je koniec Zuno stratou. Zive. sk. Retrieved March 19, 2022, from https://www.zive.sk/clanok/120329/analytici-preco-je-koniec-zuno-stratou-vraj-pride-boj-o-klientov
Kostova, T. (1999). Transnational transfer of strategic organizational practices: a contextual perspective. Academy of Management Review, 24(2), 308–324. https://doi.org/10.2307/259084 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1999.1893938
Lazarova, M. B., & Tarique, I. (2005). Knowledge transfer upon repatriation. Journal of World Business, 40(4), 361–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.08.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.08.004
Liu, X., Jiangyong, L., & Choi, S.-J. (2013). Bridging Knowledge Gaps: Returnees and Reverse Knowledge Spillovers from Chinese Local Firms to Foreign Firms. Management International Review, 54(2), 253–276. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-013-0185-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-013-0185-0
Mudambi, R., Piscitello, L., & Rabiossi, L. (2013). Reverse Knowledge Transfer in MNEs: Subsidiary Innovativeness and Entry Modes. Long Range Planning, 47(1-2), 49-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2013.08.013 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2013.08.013
Nafaji-Tavani, Z., Giroud, A., & Sinkovics, R. R. (2011). Mediating Effects in Reverse Knowledge Transfer Processes: The Case of Knowledge-Intensive Services in the U.K. Management International Review, 52(3), 461–488. https://doi:10.1007/s11575-011-0097-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-011-0097-9
Onuferová, M. (2015, January 20). Banku Zuno chcú predať. Analytik vysvetľuje, prečo neuspela. Denník N. https://dennikn.sk/29785/banku-zuno-chcu-predat-analytik-vysvetluje-preco-neuspela .
Poór, J., Juhász, T., Machová, R., Bencsik, A., & Bilan, S. (2018). Knowledge management in human resource management: Foreign-owned subsidiaries' practices in four CEE countries. Journal of International Studies, 11(3), 295–308. https://doi10.14254/2071-8330.2018/11-3/23 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-8330.2018/11-3/23
Sanchez-Vidal, M. E., Sanz-Valle, R., & Barba-Aragon, M. I. (2018). Repatriates and reverse knowledge transfer in MNCs. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(10), 1767–1785. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1216876 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1216876
Sušanka, F. (2011, July 19). Zuno Bank dnes nabídla služby, lákat bude i na spoření s denním úročením. NašePeníze.cz. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://dennikn.sk/29785/banku-zuno-chcu-predat-analytik-vysvetluje-preco-neuspela
Šestáková, M. & Ferenčíková, S. (2015). Restructuring of the banking sector in Slovakia over the last two decades. Ekonomické rozhľady, 44(2), 168–187.
Velinov, E., & Gueldenberg, S. (2016). The missing dimension of knowledge transfer from subsidiaries to headquarters: the case of oil and gas companies in the CEE region. Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.15549/jeecar.v3i2.140 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15549/jeecar.v3i2.140
Vogl, R. (2019). Learning from Zuno case. International. Raiffeisen Bank International. May 15, 2019. Interview – S. Ferenčíková
Yin, R. K. (2004). Discovering the Future of the Case Study Method in Evaluation Research. Evaluation Practice, 15(3), 283–290. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214094015003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0886-1633(94)90023-X
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Sonia Ferencikova, Daniel Krajcik, Stanislav Zabojnik
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The JEECAR journal allows the author(s) to hold the copyright and publishing rights of their own manuscript without restrictions.
This journal applies the Creative Attribution Common License to works we publish, and allows reuse and remixing of its content, in accordance with a CC-BY 4.0 license.
Authors are free to: Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Under the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
No additional restrictions — The author may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
The JEECAR Journal is committed to the editorial principles of all aspects of publication ethics and publication malpractice as assigned by the Committee on Public Ethics.
