Can a firm find the balance between openness and secrecy? Towards a theory of an optimum level of disclosure

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Contractor, Farok J.
• 署名单位: Rutgers University System; Rutgers University Newark; Rutgers University New Brunswick
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2506
• DOI: 10.1057/s41267-018-0204-2
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 261-274
• 关键词: disclosure; knowledge leakage; knowledge spillovers; intellectual assets

摘要

The purpose of this article is not merely to counter assertions about technology leakage/spillovers being innocuous or benevolent, but to go further and illuminate an under-researched question: How can companies seek the optimum balance between conscious disclosure and secrecy? The article works towards a theory of optimum disclosure, by identifying possible benefits and costs of disclosure or openness. In Paradigm 1, most companies find the net benefits of disclosure/openness to be negative. In Paradigm 2, applicable to a few highly networked or open-source MNEs, there could be net benefits over a limited range and up to an optimum point.