Transformation of the Knowledge Creation System of US IT MNEs

This paper argues that with the globalization of markets and businesses, the technological knowledge creation system has shifted from a national system to a global one. Furthermore, IT multinationals are increasingly becoming research and development (R&D)-oriented in the age of a knowledge-intensive society. As sources of knowledge become readily available to IT multinationals, particularly in the digital economy, their R&D activities have become globalized—rather than internationalized—and network-oriented from the perspective of R&D human resources, among others. We undertake comparative patent analysis of two US-based IT MNEs, Google LLC, which holds outstanding R&D capabilities in the IT field, and IBM Corporation, which has maintained an excellent position in the US patent ranking for almost 30 years. Thereby, the study reveals the global knowledge creation system from the perspective of nationalities of R&D human resources, and elucidates the difference in main targeted R&D areas, based on the bibliometric analysis of both companies, mainly focusing on Google LLC. Findings indicate that R&D capabilities of these two US IT multinationals have been strengthened by globalized R&D activities, showing the differences and similarities in terms of the globalization of R&D human resources and their Asian positions.