Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Faculty Publications 2007-11-01 Template Use and the Effectiveness of Knowledge Transfer Robert J. Jensen
[email protected] Gabriel Szulanski Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub Part of the Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Jensen, Robert J. and Szulanski, Gabriel, "Template Use and the Effectiveness of Knowledge Transfer" (2007). Faculty Publications. 226. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/226 This Peer-Reviewed Article is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. MANAGEMENT SCIENCE informs ® Vol. 53, No. 11, November 2007, pp. 1716–1730 doi 10.1287/mnsc.1070.0740 issn 0025-1909 eissn 1526-5501 07 5311 1716 © 2007 INFORMS Template Use and the Effectiveness of Knowledge Transfer Robert J. Jensen Department of Organizational Leadership and Strategy, Marriott School, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602,
[email protected] Gabriel Szulanski Department of Strategy and Management, INSEAD, 138676 Singapore,
[email protected] his paper is a direct empirical examination of the fundamental claim that use of templates enhances the Teffectiveness of knowledge transfer. We explore the effect of template use through an eight-year, in-depth field investigation of Rank Xerox (now Xerox Europe). The field investigation covers three sequential transfer efforts in 15 western European countries. The investigation reveals a naturally occurring, repeated-treatment quasi experiment that allows us to test the hypothesis that the use of templates enhances the effectiveness of knowledge transfer.