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1 – 10 of over 7000Claudio Petti and Shujun Zhang
Technological entrepreneurship concerns the transformation of potentially viable technological opportunities into successful businesses. Absorptive capacity is argued to be…
Abstract
Purpose
Technological entrepreneurship concerns the transformation of potentially viable technological opportunities into successful businesses. Absorptive capacity is argued to be essential for this transformation, since it can facilitate the prediction of new technology trends and the assimilation and application of new knowledge to produce new commercial outputs. The investigation of the relationships between absorptive capacity, technological entrepreneurship and their impact on Guangdong technology firms' performance is the purpose of this study.
Design/methodology/approach
In this aim a positive causal chain from absorptive capacity to technological entrepreneurship and from this latter to performance is tested through a mediation analysis, which uses an ordinary least squares regression‐based path analytical framework for estimating indirect effects on a sample of 113 Guangdong technology‐based firms.
Findings
Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that greater absorptive capacity leads to greater technological entrepreneurship, which in turn leads to greater performance. Therefore evidence is provided about both the mediating role of technological entrepreneurship and the role of absorptive capacity as its antecedent in relation to Guangdong‐based technology firms' performance.
Originality/value
A relevant but somewhat neglected relationship is examined using an integrative model in the Guangdong context. Moreover the study uses direct measures of absorptive capacity as a capability and provides a firm‐level operationalization of technological entrepreneurship. In so doing it also adopts state‐of‐the‐art analysis techniques and highlights the relevance of investments in soft factors for Guangdong technology firms' path towards excellence.
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José-María Sánchez-López, María Luz Martín-Peña, Eloísa Díaz-Garrido and Cristina García-Magro
Absorptive capacity, technological collaboration and servitization are analyzed to establish ways to overcome the balance between products and services in manufacturing companies…
Abstract
Purpose
Absorptive capacity, technological collaboration and servitization are analyzed to establish ways to overcome the balance between products and services in manufacturing companies. A fresh perspective is introduced by presenting a framework for innovation strategy, moving beyond product-based R&D.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses are tested using data on Spanish firms in the high-tech chemical and pharmaceutical industries through ordinary least squares regression analysis. The sample consists of 112 manufacturing firms included in the Spanish Survey of Business Strategies.
Findings
The results show that absorptive capacity facilitates servitization and that technological collaboration moderates the relationship between absorptive capacity and servitization. The synergies between absorptive capacity and technological collaboration for servitization are recognized from the perspective of open innovation as a way of resolving the trade-off between products and services.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should introduce more sources of collaboration by broadening the value chain perspective. Other approaches to innovation may also be considered, including relationships to process innovation.
Practical implications
The results can provide meaningful guidance for companies to determine the key opportunities of servitization driven by absorptive capacity, and the best ways to leverage open innovation and collaboration strategies to exploit such approaches.
Originality/value
This research enriches theories on servitization, open innovation and innovative behavior. Open innovation strategy should be linked to greater servitization activity and should support an open service strategy. This approach is crucial for building innovation capabilities through technological collaboration.
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The purpose of this paper is to undertake research on the relationship of firm heterogeneity and innovation diffusion performance, and the role of absorptive capacity in this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to undertake research on the relationship of firm heterogeneity and innovation diffusion performance, and the role of absorptive capacity in this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the diffusion of innovation theory, enterprise heterogeneity directly affects the evaluation stage (considering whether to adopt it) and the experimental stage (observing whether it is suitable for one’s own situation) of the diffusion process. Therefore, the paper uses a structural equation model to construct the influencing factors model of enterprise heterogeneity on technology diffusion. Furthermore, questionnaires were distributed to 236 enterprises with different scales, nature and location to explore the impact of heterogeneity on technology diffusion with scientific, objective and comprehensive data.
Findings
Firm heterogeneity has a positive effect on absorptive capacity and absorptive capacity has a positive effect on technological innovation diffusion performance. Thus, absorptive capacity plays an intermediary role in the effect on enterprise heterogeneity and technological innovation diffusion performance. More interestingly, the authors get some results that are not entirely consistent with the theoretical assumptions.
Practical implications
Firm heterogeneity plays a central role in the process of innovation diffusion. Enterprises should build internal management platforms to enhance cooperation among employees, and establish links with other enterprises for opportunities for win-win cooperation. In addition, enterprises should control the frequency of internal activities, which will undermine the enthusiasm of enterprise members to participate in technology sharing.
Originality/value
This paper explores the interaction between technology potential, cooperation frequency and absorptive capacity from the perspective of systems theory. The findings enrich the theory of innovation diffusion, and explore the inherent reasons why enterprise heterogeneity affects innovation diffusion. Furthermore, the theory that intra-firm cooperation promotes innovation diffusion is not always correct.
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Yan Han, Yanqi Sun, Kevin Huang and Cheng Xu
This study aims to examine the complex effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on China’s agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) from 2005 to 2020. It also explores the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the complex effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on China’s agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) from 2005 to 2020. It also explores the role of absorptive capacity as a moderating factor during this period.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing provincial panel data from China, this research measures agricultural TFP using the Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA)-Malmquist method. The impact of FDI on agricultural productivity is further analyzed using a nondynamic panel threshold model.
Findings
The results highlight technological progress as the main driver of agricultural TFP growth in China. Agricultural FDI (AFDI) seems to impede TFP development, whereas nonagricultural FDI (NAFDI) shows a distinct positive spillover effect. The study reveals a threshold in absorptive capacity that affects both the direct and spillover impacts of FDI. Provinces with higher absorptive capacity are less negatively impacted by AFDI and more likely to benefit from FDI spillovers (FDISs).
Originality/value
This study provides new insights into the intricate relationship between FDI, absorptive capacity and agricultural productivity. It underscores the importance of optimizing technological progress and research and development (R&D) to enhance agricultural productivity in China.
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T. Ramayah, Pedro Soto-Acosta, Khoo Kah Kheng and Imran Mahmud
Firms' knowledge-processing capabilities have a central role in achieving innovation performance and competitive advantage. Absorptive capacity capabilities and innovation are…
Abstract
Purpose
Firms' knowledge-processing capabilities have a central role in achieving innovation performance and competitive advantage. Absorptive capacity capabilities and innovation are viewed as essential for enterprise success. Absorptive capacity is deemed as a highly important organizational capability to recognize value and assimilate both external and internal knowledge in order to enhance firm innovation. The aim of this study is to determine if innovation performance can be improved through absorptive capacity (knowledge acquisition, dissemination and utilization), when it is supported by internal (firm experience) and external knowledge sources (R&D cooperation and contracted R&D).
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative methodology based on employing a structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The proposed research model and its associated hypotheses are tested by using Partial Least Squares (PLS) structural equation modelling (SEM) on a data set of 248 manufacturing companies located in the Northern Region of Malaysia.
Findings
Results showed that firms' experience is significantly related to absorptive capacity, while for R&D cooperation and contracted R&D findings were mixed. In addition, absorptive capacity was found as a strong predictor of innovation performance.
Originality/value
One of the defining features of competition in many industries has been the extremely rapid pace of technological change, marked by a continuous stream of innovations. Manufacturing firms, therefore, face the challenge of nurturing existing knowledge and developing novel knowledge in order to create new business opportunities. This study makes valuable contributions with regard to understanding the behavioural of manufacturing firms towards process and product innovation.
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Stephanie Moura, Christian Daniel Falaster and Thomas C. Lawton
This study aims to explore how the absorptive capacity of emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) facilitates increased acquirer performance in industry exploration and technology…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how the absorptive capacity of emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) facilitates increased acquirer performance in industry exploration and technology exploration cross-border acquisitions (CBAs).
Design/methodology/approach
The research context for this study is Brazilian EMNEs and their CBAs. The final database contains 101 CBAs.
Findings
The authors find that industry exploration strategies negatively affect financial performance, but technology exploration strategies have a positive effect. The acquirer’s absorptive capacity can exacerbate the negative effects, except in instances of technology exploration strategies, where there is a demonstrable benefit from the acquirer’s absorptive capacity.
Originality/value
The study contributes first by providing a more nuanced understanding of the effects of absorptive capacity on postacquisition performance, depending on the type of knowledge explored. Second, by drawing on EMNE learning perspectives, the authors demonstrate the versatility of absorptive capacity in emerging markets.
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Mojtaba Kaffashan Kakhki, Marzie Zarqi, Hadi Harati, Yaser Asemandoreh and Ehsan Namdar Joyame
The aim of this study is to examine the effect of organizational levers and information technology (IT) absorptive capacity on librarians' innovation.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to examine the effect of organizational levers and information technology (IT) absorptive capacity on librarians' innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
This survey-analytic study investigated the librarians who were working in the libraries of the medical sciences universities in Iran. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire distributed randomly among the members of the sample. The SEM and the LISREL software for data analysis were used.
Findings
It was found that the librarians' job autonomy and fairness of rewards had an effect on acquiring new knowledge and applying transformed knowledge. Although the results did not confirm the effect of the librarians' job autonomy on knowledge assimilation and transformation, they showed a direct and positive effect of fairness of rewards on knowledge assimilation and transformation. Furthermore, this study confirmed the effect of acquiring and applying new knowledge about the library IT on enhancing the librarians' innovation. The effect of knowledge assimilation and transformation, from the application of IT in libraries, on the librarians' innovation was not confirmed.
Practical implications
Learning about the effect of organizational levers on librarians' knowledge absorptive capacities, in terms of applying technologies, to create innovation is an important issue. This will elucidate the gaps of disregarding the effect of organizational levers and librarians' knowledge absorptive capacities on librarians' innovation, and will pave the way for better planning to achieve the libraries' innovative goals.
Originality/value
This is among the few articles that have helped to fill the existing theoretical and research gap in knowledge absorptive capacity in Library and Information Science (LIS). In addition, this article has made a valuable contribution to understanding the role of IT knowledge absorptive capacity as a mediator variable between the organizational levers and librarians' innovation.
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Younghoon Chang, Siew Fan Wong, Uchenna Eze and Hwansoo Lee
Founded on the concept of organizational ambidexterity and the competing value model, the purpose of this paper is to develop an information technology (IT) ambidexterity…
Abstract
Purpose
Founded on the concept of organizational ambidexterity and the competing value model, the purpose of this paper is to develop an information technology (IT) ambidexterity framework to underscore the importance of a balanced and harmonious IT environment in enterprise cloud adoption.
Design/methodology/approach
With survey responses from 165 IT executives in a managerial position who are in charge of cloud computing implementation, partial least square method is used to test the research model.
Findings
Cloud absorptive capacity plays an important role for firms to secure a competitive advantage. The synergy of the two capabilities (flexibility and control), which have conflicting characteristics, contributes to the enhancement of cloud absorptive capacity and leads to a firm’s knowledge accumulation and performance.
Research limitations/implications
This study is the very first attempt that empirically establishes the relationship between a firm’s competitiveness and cloud computing absorptive capacity. This study provides a comprehensive framework that integrates ambidexterity theory with the competing value framework (CVF) with extending the concept of absorptive capacity that is bounded within an organizational perspective into a cloud computing context.
Practical implications
Firms should treat cloud computing as a strategic consideration to secure a competitive advantage in the contemporary business environment. For a firm’s performance, a dual governance structure, that encompasses flexibility and control, is required to achieve competitive advantage from cloud computing adoption.
Originality/value
To facilitate organizational effort in achieving a harmonious cloud environment, the authors propose a comprehensive ambidexterity framework integrating the CVF approach. This framework maps IT ambidexterity onto the CVF. As CVF considers internal and external factors that ambidexterity theory does not cover, integrating two theories can provide more comprehensive implications and discussions regarding cloud computing adoption.
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Maria do Carmo Caccia‐Bava, Tor Guimaraes and Susan J. Harrington
Absorptive capacity has been defined as an organization's ability to recognize the value of new information, assimilate it, and apply it to productive ends. This study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Absorptive capacity has been defined as an organization's ability to recognize the value of new information, assimilate it, and apply it to productive ends. This study aims to examine the type of organization culture that influences the capacity of hospital organizations to innovate by absorbing new technology and the importance of this absorptive capacity in information technology (IT) implementation success.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on previous research, this study proposes a measure of absorptive capacity that includes managerial IT knowledge and communication channels and tests its relationship to the level of success implementing new systems. A sample of 192 hospital administrators shared their opinions about their organizations culture, ability to absorb new technology, and the extent to which their latest IT implementation operational for at least one year has been a success.
Findings
The results show the importance of organization culture as an important factor in developing absorptive capacity, and the latter's influence in the implementation of new technologies.
Originality/value
The study provides insights into the types of activities that management should undertake in order to enhance absorptive hospital capacity.
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Divya Mishra and Nidhi Maheshwari
With the advent of Internet technologies, shorter product life cycles and increasing competition, organisations have started looking for innovation sources outside the…
Abstract
Purpose
With the advent of Internet technologies, shorter product life cycles and increasing competition, organisations have started looking for innovation sources outside the organisational boundaries. The external community of crowds can be used as a valuable source of co-creation in a company's innovation process to generate value. Despite its growing popularity, organisations often face difficulty capturing value from crowdsourcing due to the lack of proper mechanisms behind crowdsourcing-based value co-creation between a crowd and an organisation and their impact on organisational learning and innovation performance. The present study seeks to understand the crowdsourcing-based co-creation mechanism that influences knowledge transfer effectiveness and the organisation's absorptive capacity, resulting in improved innovation performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The model was empirically tested using online survey data received from 300 managers of IT firms. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to test the model.
Findings
The empirical results reveal that crowdsourcing-based value co-creation causes structural, cognitive and relational linkages between a crowd and a firm, among which crowdsourcing-based cognitive linkage contributes more to organisational value capture. Further, an organisation's effective knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity play an important role in influencing the crowdsourcing-based-co-creation organisational learning-innovation performance framework.
Originality/value
This is the first and foremost study that has developed an integrated model using social capital dimensions to understand the entire mechanism behind crowdsourcing-based value co-creation between a crowd and an organisation and their impact on organisational learning and innovation performance. The study provides organisations with theoretical and practical implications of using crowdsourcing as a value co-creation tool and its effects on enhancing organisational learning and value capture.
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