THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER IN INTERNATIONAL MASTER FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS Maureen Brookes Department Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management Oxford Brookes University Gipsy Lane Campus Headington, Oxford, OX3 0BP Email: meabrookes@brookes.ac.uk And Levent Altinay Department Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management Oxford Brookes University Gipsy Lane Campus Headington, Oxford, OX3 0BP Email: laltinay@brookes.ac.uk ABSTRACT The paper examines knowledge transfer (KT) as a process in alliance agreements and evaluates the factors that influence the process of KT drawing on resource-based, organisational learning and relational management literature. The research is conducted within the context of international hotel master franchise agreements. The study reveals the inter-related role of antecedents, contextual factors and inter-organisational processes to KT and how these can facilitate or hinder KT within international master franchise agreements. A number of considerations for industry managers are identified through the research. Key Words: Knowledge Transfer, Master Franchise, Relational Management INTRODUCTION Advocates of the resource-based view of the firm contend that knowledge is a critical resource in today’s global and dynamic business environment (Gulati et al, 2000). Researchers have therefore given a good deal of attention to organisational learning (OL), recognising its impact on firm performance and survival (Ahuja and Lampert, 2001; Yang, 2004). Inter-firm alliance agreements are increasingly viewed as a way of gaining access to knowledge (Abou-Zeid, 2005) and inter-organisational learning (IOL) has frequently been argued to be a key determinant of competitive (Dyer and Nobeoka, 2000) and alliance success ( Arino and de la Torre, 1998). Whilst researchers have examined IOL from a number of different disciplinary and theoretical perspectives, Argote et al (2003) argue this has led to a rather fragmented understanding of it. Nonetheless their efforts have identified that knowledge transfer (KT) is a critical element within IOL (Argote and Ingram, 2000). Furthermore, researchers have recognised the difficulty of transferring knowledge across organisational borders (Szulanski, 1996) and cultures (Abou-Zeid, 2005). KT in international alliance agreements is thus more challenging than in domestic agreements, yet the majority of empirical studies to date have focussed on the latter. Many studies have also sought to examine KT in relation to outputs or performance, rather than the process by which it takes place and Simonin (1999) argues that further insight can be gained by examining inter-organisational KT as a process. The need for further research in different alliance contexts has also been recognised as previous research suggests