Knowledge transfer in offshoring arrangements: the roles of social capital, efficacy and outcome expectations

Prior research has shown that social capital is as a vital factor for knowledge transfer, but has hardly examined this within an offshoring context. Moreover, the social capital lens is not sufficient for explaining motivational mechanisms of knowledge transfer. Our qualitative case study demonstrates that social capital as well as efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations affected the ability and willingness of German IT developers to transfer knowledge to their Indian offshore colleagues. We highlight interrelations between these knowledge transfer mechanisms, and we discuss results with regard to new insights for offshoring and knowledge transfer research, limitations, and practical implications.