Cross-border acquisitions in business group affiliated firms: Reverse knowledge transfer and sharing the knowledge among affiliates of the group

The study aims to answer two research questions. The first one is to understand the meaning of cross-border acquisitions in the internationalization of Turkish business group member companies, and the second aims to understand the processes of reverse knowledge transfer following crossborder acquisitions and the sharing of transferred knowledge among business group sister affiliates. The study was designed with a basic/generic qualitative research design, and the data of it consisted of in-depth interviews with eight senior managers from six companies affiliated with four business groups. The analysis was completed for each research question in two stages using MAXQDA. In the first stage, the data analysed in terms of the Internationalization Process Model (Uppsala), the Eclectic Paradigm, the Perspective of LLL, the Springboard Perspective, and the Knowledge-Based View, both in terms of understanding the motivations and the theoretical background of acquisitions. The results reveal that the primary motives of cross-border acquisitions for the interviewed companies are market-seeking and efficiency-seeking. The emphasis on the importance of the first cross-border acquisitions of the firms shows that the Springboard Perspective can explain the internationalization of the companies. Besides, the steps of the spring differ across the sectors. Accordingly, companies operating in the food and beverage sector generally invest in developing countries and follow the springboard in their first acquisitions to reach a broad market network. On the other hand, companies operating in technology and energy generally invest in developed and developing countries and make their first acquisitions in developed countries to access technological knowledge. In the second stage of the analysis, the aim is to understand the mechanisms used in the processes of reverse knowledge transfer from acquired companies and sharing the knowledge with business group affiliated firms. The results show that the most used mechanism for reverse knowledge transfer is employee transfer, followed by formal meetings and best practice transfers. About sharing knowledge among the companies of the business group, formal meetings, employee transfers, best practice transfers, and informal meetings are the most used mechanisms. According to the results, matrix organization and one-team practices also positively affect reverse knowledge transfers. Although the research has limitations, the results provide theoretical, practical, and managerial contributions to the literature on strategic management, international business, and knowledge transfer