Organizational Learning in Multinationals: What More Should be Done?

Abstract

In international business ventures, it was often touted that the organizations involved in such operations will be able to gain invaluable operational and managerial
experience through deploying expatriates oversea. Although initial losses would be experienced, multinational enterprises are said to be likely to learn in the process and
eventually turn their oversea operations profitable over time as their oversea subsidiaries learn from their daily operations in the foreign land. However, is the learning
effect observed during such situations organizational learning or individual learning? As the two are different, and the mechanisms that were proposed to facilitate the
conversion of individual learning into organizational learning might not really be effective when managerial/executive roles are in perspective, I propose that research
should be conducted on the mechanisms that are currently used by multinationals to retain the knowledge and competencies of their out-going staff, the mechanisms’
effectiveness, how can these mechanisms be improved, and how multinationals can facilitate the process of organizational learning in their operations across countries and
cultures. Based on the findings from this series of research, advices on how multinationals can achieve greater effectiveness in the realization of organizational learning
can be devised and be promoted to the industry at large.