Offshoring R&D: The relationship between transparency, communication structures and knowledge

Companies are increasingly offshoring R&D activities. Many firms, however, experience difficulties related to virtual teamwork across cultures and time zones. The research question is: How does increasing R&D offshoring impact transparency of communication structures and knowledge sharing? Using case studies from Danish multinational corporations with R&D activities in China, India or Eastern Europe this paper analyses the impact observed in these companies in regard to communication structures and knowledge sharing in management of offshored R&D activities.

The findings show that companies attempt to increase transparency through formalisation of knowledge and clear communication structures. However, the influence of tacit knowledge, horizontal communication and culture seem largely overlooked. Therefore the authors suggest a context based approach to transparency accustomed to the complexity of the R&D activity.

This paper shows that management of offshored R&D activities touches upon many key management dilemmas like trust, control and knowledge sharing.