TY - JOUR AB - Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigates how organizational learning, absorptive capacity, cultural integration, specialization of the acquired firm and characteristics of transferred knowledge impact innovation performance subsequent to overseas acquisitions. Design/methodology/approach– Survey responses from 222 Chinese multinational enterprises engaged in overseas acquisitions. Findings– Differences between acquiring and acquired firms’ capabilities, while having a positive direct influence, suppress the positive impact of organizational learning and absorptive capacity, suggesting that multinationals require some basic level of capabilities to appropriate value from overseas acquisitions. Research limitations/implications– This paper investigates the impact of knowledge-seeking overseas acquisition of Chinese multinationals on innovation performance, as this appears to be the primary motive for making such acquisitions. Practical implications– Knowledge-seeking overseas acquisition should be based upon the absorptive capacity of the acquiring firm and complementarity between both firms. In knowledge-seeking overseas acquisitions, establishing an effective organizational learning mechanism is necessary for improving innovation performance. Originality/value– This paper reports on the behaviour and innovation performance of Chinese multinationals through analysis of primary data. VL - 9 IS - 1 SN - 1750-614X DO - 10.1108/CMS-01-2015-0021 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-01-2015-0021 AU - Wu Xianming AU - Lupton Nathaniel C. AU - Du Yuping ED - Dr Mingzhi Li, Prof. Jiuchang Wei, Dr. Peter McKiernan PY - 2015 Y1 - 2015/01/01 TI - Innovation outcomes of knowledge-seeking Chinese foreign direct investment T2 - Chinese Management Studies PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 73 EP - 96 Y2 - 2024/09/25 ER -