Knowledge transfer as a dynamic capability: a meta-analysis of its impact on organizational outcomes in international contexts

This study integrates Knowledge Management Process (KMP) and dynamic capability (DC) literature to adopt the lens of knowledge-based DC. To address an equivocal state of research, this meta-analysis examines KMP roles as preconditioned capabilities for DC-related organizational outcomes and dynamism. One hundred and twenty-nine quantitative studies within an international setting were systematically reviewed from ProQuest and Scopus. Only knowledge transfer has sufficient studies (28) to conduct a random-effects meta-analysis, highlighting theoretical gaps in understanding the cumulative, and interdependent effects of KMP functions: knowledge creation, storage, and application. This study reveals significant associations between knowledge transfer and organizational learning/absorptive capacity, and innovation. The robust meta-analysis uncovers the synthesized strength of the relation between knowledge transfer and DC-related outcomes, thereby resolving inconclusive findings of fragmented research and addressing theoretical understanding of converging KM-DC field. Between the two dynamisms studied, knowledge transfer and employee/organizational embeddedness are significantly associated. However, no significant relationship was found between knowledge transfer and distance (cultural, geographical). These findings call for future research to adopt an integrated approach by examining the processual nature of KMP as DC, and how KMP in each function itself as a pre-conditioned capability for DC development as well as contextual elements for competitive edge.