Knowledge transfer in Vietnam: Starts, stops, and loops

Purpose - To offer a framework of structural and contextual influences on knowledge transfer of foreign management ideas to Vietnamese academic and managerial colleagues. It addresses four factors: stage of relationship between Vietnamese and foreign counterparts; participative competence (i.e. knowledge, experience, and motivations of those sending and receiving knowledge); atmosphere within each side's organization; and conduit conditions, or factors that facilitate transmittal or translation of knowledge. Design/methodology/approach - The paper draws on an ethnographic study from 1994-2003 of the creation of Vietnam's first international standard business school, within the National Economics University (NEU), in Hanoi, which included participant observation, semi-structured and informal interviews with over 60 Vietnamese faculty members, managers, university administrators, and foreign visiting professors and administrators, field notes, documentation, and archival records. Findings - The paper concludes that long-lasting knowledge transfer is not straightforward in its flow; must be bi-directional for the primary transfer (i.e. of Western business knowledge) to succeed, and moves from primarily explicit to both explicit and more tacit knowledge transfer. Research limitations/implications - The paper calls for additional research on perceptive competence, organizational atmosphere, conduit conditions, and turning points in relationships. Practical implications - A toolkit for managers on key aspects to consider in knowledge transfer and exchange within developing countries and within multinational firms. Originality/value - The paper expands existing models and adds new components regarding the relationship between parties, and the notion of bi-directional interactions.