Virtual delegation across borders: A knowledge-based perspective

A virtual delegation is characterized by the spatial and psychic separation of private and work life. The employee is not delegated abroad, as an expatriate but instead works in the company headquarters and predominantly interacts with individuals in foreign countries. This study aims to explore whether the use of virtual delegation depends on the intensity, direction and mode of knowledge transfers between the units of a MNC. Based on the knowledge-based view, three research hypotheses are developed and tested in 255 MNCs in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). A regression analysis reveals that the use of virtual delegation depends on the intensity and the mode of knowledge transfer between headquarters and subsidiaries of a MNC. Contrary to our hypothesis, the direction of knowledge transfer has no significant influence.