Culture and Actionable Knowledge: Proximities and Transfers

The prevalent methodological nationalism in studying culture makes it hard to comprehensively conceptualize the role of national and other subcultures in knowledge transfer. In the present paper, I explore the possibility of solving this matter. A brief overview of the debates surrounding the meanings of ‘culture’ and ‘knowledge’ is given and the relation between both concepts is being discussed. It is argued that they overlap considerably in their conceptualization: knowledge is defined as a capacity for action, acquiring significance in situations where such action does not follow purely stereotypical patterns. This chimes with a definition of culture as an emergent concept, constantly in the making, rather than a monolithic force ‘causing’ behavior. Knowledge is never neutral: it has a cultural flavor, but this flavor is not necessarily national (it can also be professional or generational or even gender-influenced). Recent developments in the field of economic geography, defining ‘proximity’ as not only being spatial, but operating at different levels of association (e.g. organizational proximity, professional proximity, epistemic proximity) then equip us with the conceptual toolkit to scrutinize knowledge emerging at, but not necessarily confined to, the level of the individual employee. Interviewing Indian knowledge migrants working for a multinational ICT and consultancy firm, I found that these highly skilled professionals indeed report on different (cultural), not necessarily geographically circumscribed spheres through which adaptation to a new client, working environment or cultural environment can take place. The more spheres are altered in the transfer, the more difficult it is to transfer context-specific knowledge. Also, relative distance in terms of one sphere can be compensated for through proximity in terms of another. Deserving of special mention is the ‘global proximity’ some of the Indians identify, which is not so much aligned with the organization as it is with their specific craftsmanship and the ‘global orientation’ of their jobs. This chimes with the concept of ‘cross-cultural competence’, a toolkit that enables professionals to span cultural boundaries within and between organizations and people.