Critical

Review of
Knowledge
Management
Journal

Exploring the performance of

transnational projects:

Shared knowledge, c o o r d i n a t i o n a n d communication

Maria Adenfelt
SWEDEN

Amalia Kiswandari
Asgar Ali
Catur Wijanarko
Devy Dwi Orshella
Setiowati

Motivation
Aim

Method
Result

Future Works
Critical Review

The knowledge sharing process

is important for the performance

of transnational project as it determines the
ent to which knowledge of the diverse units come
e in the transnational product development proce
and subsequently the final product launched
y and Chao, 2005; Subramaniam and Venkatraman

Motivati
on

hy it is a Transnational Projec

Motivati
on
physical
distance

technolog
ical
infrastruc
ture
difference
s

cultur
al
diversi
ty

Challen
ges

languag
e
barriers

The Aim
Knowledge
Sharing

effects

transnational
project
performance

Method
Case Study
5 Countries

actual
development
of the
transnational
product

Phase

Interview
&
Survey

Questions:
4 Categories

Classificat
ion of
interviews

Project
managem
ent

Subprojet
groups

No. of
interviews

No. of
survey
responses

Case Study

1
2
3
4

Up-to-date Company
regional structure with the objectives of
enhancing integration between the
subsidiaries in each region

InfoAccess Project
new product offering, based on two existing
offerings

functional backgrounds:
information analysis, business
dvelopment or IT

Structure:
Project Manager - Sub-Project Manager Member

WINTER
Template

RESULT

Managing coordination and communication

01

1
At the beginning regular teleconferences
the past six months less meetings
everybody has been developing their own part of the
product.

2
sharing information communication
BUT
the content not always was in line with the information needs

3
The communication complicated &time consuming
Geographically = so many different persons + units involved.
We have had so many misunderstandings

02

Initiation of the InfoAccess project

kick-off
meetings
every subproject
It would
have been
wrong to
start with a
kick-off
meeting
each subproject
independen
tly

forked
tongues
standardize
the
products VS
local
customer
requirement
s and
preferences

Skills
how to
address
business
requirement
s differed
between
the subproject
teams
The
problem is
that we do
not have
the skills or
resources
for doing
so

02

Initiation of the InfoAccess project

dialogue between
the different subprojects
Very little
Each subproject did what
they were
assigned to do
without giving
much thought
to the overall
project.

silo mentality
standardize the
products VS
local customer
requirements
and
preferences
There is no
learning
between the
sub-projects but
as long as they
are committed
and take
responsibility

Developing the product

time scheduled for testing

was not in line

development process were

highly technical
and
project members with a nontechnical background

03

the sub-project managers

did not approve or give
feed-back

the development of the

product had
to proceed without approval
from the sub-projects

difficulties in interpreting and

giving feed-back

the development of the

product had
to proceed without approval
from the sub-projects

Developing the product

Additional
sophisticated
features

product
more
competitive

03

Harmonizing
the
terminology
between the
countries.

Finalizing the project

04

Integrate subprojects a final

product

Features were not in

line with the
specifications

interpreted the scope

differently

delay in launching

Not become
market leader

FINDINGS

interdepende
nce

between shared
knowledge,
communication
and coordination

frequent and
continuous

interacti
ons

coordination and
communication

mechanis
ms that relied
on frequent
interaction and
communication

Future
Works
Case Study > one specific domain

The relationship between knowledge processes

and transnational project performance further

how frequently cross-functional

transnational project teams are used in product
development, the impact of cross-functionality,
knowledge sharing and subsequently project
performance subject

Critical
Review

Th e Th eory

(Coordination)

This Paper

Others

Coordination of
activities across
subsidiaries becomes
an important
organizational issue
For example to solve
a variety of problems
and ensuring that the
activities often
performed separately
from each other of
the common solution
harmonize and
integrate properly.
(Faraj and Sproull,

The coordination of
geographically dispersed
R&D activities has
become an important
challenge for MNEs
(Arzumanyan dkk.,
2011)
Since companies need
to access knowledge
developed in different
countries to remain
competitive, more
research focuses on the
issue of knowledge
management within
MNEs (Adenfelt and
Lagerstrom, 2008;

Th e M eth od
This Paper
A total of ten
interviews were
performed

(N um ber of Interview )

Others
Bernard (2000)
states that most
studies are based
on samples
between 30-60
interviews
Creswell (1998) 5

to 25

Morse (1994) at
least six;
all qualitative
research: Bertaux
(1981) 15 is the

THE METHOD
This Paper

Others

s
The question
focusing on
communication
& coordination,
but not present
organizational
structure
characteristics.

Wen-Bao Lin (2008)

shows there are 3
elements to run the
knowledge
sharing :
Organizational
Structure
Culture
Interaction
among the
variables in there.

THE METHOD
This Paper

Others

the questions
focused on two
sets of
inquiries; how
and why, with
the intent of
exploring the
phenomena indepth
(Yin, 1994).

Jang dkk (2005)

5W1H to get the
complete
information.
Yang dkk (2014):
who team
member & leader
leadership style
communication
and cooridnation

Scale
Case Study

Case
Study
Each
sub-project was
then expected to take
responsibility of the
activities on a local

level.
The scope

of the
transnational project
was to develop a
product with a common
core that allowed for
adaptations to local
market needs.
The scope of the
transnational project
was to develop a
product with a common
core that allowed for

Theory
In order to be selected, the
transnational project
had to encompass units and
members from

several countries.
(Ratcheva, 2009)

This Paper
Just focused on
coordintion
and
communicatio
n, not explain
bout who is the
leader of the
project and
how to manage
the
transnational
project.

Yang dan Wu,

2008
The Success of
Knowledge Sharing
or knowledge
transfer not
depends on
document or any
information, but
the success of
Knowledge sharing
is depends on
interaction
between members
of the project.

Ochieng dan Price,

2010
Contex of the problems
from communiction
process in member of
the multicultural
project is how project
manager and clien
eliminate the
constrain because of
the difference in
culture of project
member by develop
the infrastructure

Planning
of The
Project

Root Cause
of
Knowledge
Sharing
Failure

Thank
You