Three decades of research on practice transfer in multinational firms: Past contributions and future opportunities

The cross-border transfer of practices lies at the heart of how multinational enterprises (MNEs) coordinate their international business activities. Research on transfer has increased substantially over the last three decades and now constitutes a well-established literature. For a systematic analysis, we review a sample of 167 articles published in 18 top journals. We structure these past contributions in a ‘Practice Transfer Framework.’ Our mapping reveals some limitations and blind spots in existing theoretical and methodological approaches. Beyond more conventional extensions, we offer several ideas that could qualitatively elevate research on transfer, commensurate with the paradigms of 21st century global business.