Affiliations: [a] University of Hull Business School (HUBS), Hull, UK | [b] Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Ishikawa, Japan | [c] South-China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Zhichang Zhu, Business School, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK. Tel.: +44 1482 463076; Fax: +44 1482 463484; E-mail: z.zhu@hull.ac.uk.
Abstract: The over-half-a-century collective experience of transferring management knowledge from the West into China is analysed based on a pragmatic conception of knowledge and a contingency model of transfer. Findings suggest that cross-border transmission will be more effective if actors (1) carefully investigate the transferabilities of ideals, tools and practice in management innovations, and (2) consciously pursue theoretically informed copying, adapting and mutual learning strategies. This allows a proposition that a culturally and institutionally sensitive perspective that nurtures international communities of knowing is crucial for globally informed indigenous management.
Keywords: Management knowledge, knowledge transfer, systems science, systems methodology, pragmatism, China
