Michailova and Jormanainen, “Knowledge transfer between Russian and Western firms: whose absorptive capacity is in question?” : A reply

Purpose – The paper aims to provide comments on Michailova and Jormanainen's paper, “Knowledge transfer between Russian and Western firms: whose absorptive capacity is in question?” ( CPoIB , Vol. 7 No. 3). Design/methodology/approach – The paper offers a critical analysis of issues regarding knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity in the context of business interactions between Russian and Western firms. Findings – The paper argues that knowledge transfer between Russian and foreign firms is a two‐way road, and the role of “competence brokers” is very important. Research limitations/implications – The paper invites scholars to examine knowledge transfer between Russian and Western firms with a more “stereoscopic view” by distinguishing various kinds of actors within both Russian and foreign firms. Practical implications – Researchers are invited to put less emphasis on citing theoretical articles and to bring more attention to cases, documentary evidence of firms' actions and articles in less popular journals focused on East European management. Originality/value – The commentary provides a more detailed view on knowledge transfer between Russian and Western firms.