Learning from Locally Embedded Knowledge: Facilitating Organizaitonal Learning in Geographically Dispersed Settings

This article addresses the question of how geographically dispersed organizations can overcome the complications for organizational learning that result from the locally embedded character of knowledge. Based on a case study in an MNC, we identify a process of knowledge pollination, describing how a network of experts facilitates organizational learning by participating in various local practices, un-embedding and re-embedding knowledge between these practices. This process is a combination of learning in practice (sharing practices at various locations), network learning (using one's personal network), and organized learning (institutionalized methods of knowledge sharing). Learning in practice is the core process of creating and applying knowledge: network learning facilitates this process across different local and practical contexts and organized learning facilitates the development and extension of network learning.