The positive moderating effect of absorptive capacity on R&D investment: the case of Argentina’s ict firms

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to study the moderating effect of absorptive capacity, defined as the set of organizational routines and processes through which companies acquire, assimilate, transform and exploit knowledge to produce a dynamic organizational capacity (Zahra and George, 2002), in three strategic orientations: market orientation; technology orientation and entrepreneurial orientation and their positive relationship in the performance of the medium and large Mexican manufacturing firms. Likewise, it is determined whether these three combined SOs influence firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThe data was collected from 171 medium and large-sized Mexican manufacturing firms. The proposed hypotheses are tested using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsDespite the importance of knowledge for the development of firms, the results indicate that the moderating effect of absorptive capacity is only present in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. That is, firms cannot take advantage of knowledge simultaneously between the three strategic orientations. For their part, market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation exert a positive influence on firm performance.Practical implicationsThe main practical implication for the manufacturing industry is that they must develop mechanisms to detect what kind of knowledge affects each strategic orientation, in this way it can make the absorptive capacity influence the relationships between SO and FP.Originality/valueThe main contribution consists of studying the moderating effect of the absorptive capacity on the relationship between three strategic orientations and firm performance, and not concentrating solely on the simultaneous use of these strategies as is commonly done.

Download Full-text

Regional government R&D investment and innovation performance: the moderating effect of geographical and organizational proximities

International Journal of Innovation Science ◽

10.1108/ijis-01-2021-0001 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Dongyun Zhu ◽

Bingfen Xu

Keyword(s):

Moderating Effect ◽

Innovation Performance ◽

Regional Government ◽

Multilevel Regression ◽

Regional Innovation ◽

Government Investment ◽

Content Type ◽

Organizational Proximity ◽

The Relationship ◽

D Investment

Purpose This study aims to measure the moderating effect of geographical and organizational proximity by focusing on readily available Chinese regional economic data over a five-year period. Design/methodology/approach The authors used multilevel regression analysis to analyze the relationship. Findings Results show that increasing government investment in research and development (R&D) can improve innovation performance during this period, organizational proximity and geographic proximity have a positive moderate effect on the relationship between R&D investment and Innovation performance. Originality/value This study enriches the existing theories on government innovation input and output from the perspective of regional differences and provides meaningful guidance for current Chinese regional innovation policies.

Download Full-text

Measuring the impact of relational capital on customer performance in the SME B2B sector

Business Process Management Journal ◽

10.1108/bpmj-10-2016-0205 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (6) ◽

pp. 1144-1166 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Lara Agostini ◽

Anna Nosella ◽

Benedetta Soranzo

Keyword(s):

Absorptive Capacity ◽

Open Innovation ◽

Moderating Effect ◽

High Tech ◽

Relational Capital ◽

Marketing Capability ◽

Content Type ◽

Innovation Practices ◽

External Actors ◽

The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence that different components of relational capital (marketing capability, open innovation with business and scientific partners, technological reputation, brand) have on customer performance (CP). Moreover, the moderating effect of absorptive capacity on such relationships is tested. Design/methodology/approach First, the direct relationship between the different components of relational capital and CP is analyzed through a linear regression model. Then, to test the moderating effect, two distinct regression analyses are conducted into two sub-samples, defined according to the level of absorptive capacity. The authors carried out these analyses on a sample of 150 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the medium- and high-tech B2B context. Findings Results of this study prove that CP is enhanced through firm marketing capability, open innovation with business partners and technological reputation, while brand and open innovation with scientific partner do not have an association with CP. In particular, the impact of marketing capability and open innovation with business actors on CP is greater for firms with higher absorptive capacity. Research limitations/implications This paper, highlighting the relevance of relational capital and absorptive capacity in improving CP, enhances our knowledge about the factors that help to strengthen the relationships with customers, which is an under-investigated issue especially for SMEs competing in B2B industries, and extends our knowledge on open innovation practices. Practical implications Findings of this paper suggest that, to achieve better CP, managers should pay special attention to nurturing their marketing capability and high-quality relationships with external actors and invest in absorptive capacity to enhance the positive effect of such linkages. Originality/value This work, combining the external perspective of relational capital and the internal organizational dimension of absorptive capacity, provides valuable insights about the knowledge and resource mix that firms might rely on to achieve better customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Download Full-text

The effect of foreign market knowledge on SME export performance: a study ofnon-traditional SMEs in Ghana

Global Knowledge Memory and Communication ◽

10.1108/gkmc-03-2021-0054 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Aidatu Abubakari ◽

Kwame Simpe Ofori ◽

Henry Boateng ◽

Koffi N’Da ◽

Robert Ebo Hinson

Keyword(s):

Multinational Corporations ◽

Absorptive Capacity ◽

Developing Economies ◽

Export Performance ◽

Foreign Market ◽

Moderating Effect ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Market Knowledge ◽

Content Type ◽

The Relationship

Purpose It is well documented in the extant literature that knowledge plays a crucial role in small and medium enterprise (SME) internationalization. Exporting SMEs from developing economies faces many challenges, including lack of knowledge about institutions in foreign markets, inadequate knowledge about foreign institutions and limited internationalization knowledge (IK). However, research on the export performance of SMEs has thus far focused on the internationalization strategies of multinational corporations. This study aims to explore the effect of foreign market knowledge on SME export performance. The authors also assessed the moderating effect of employee absorptive capacity in the knowledge-performance nexus. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopted a survey design to collect data from owners/managers of SMEs exporters in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. A total of 350 questionnaires were distributed based on convenience. Of this number, 257 usable responses were used in the final analysis. The authors tested the proposed model using partial least squares-structural equation modeling. Findings The findings show that the three types of foreign market knowledge tested in this study, namely, foreign institutional knowledge (FIK), foreign business knowledge and IK have positive and significant effects on SME exporters’ performance. It also shows that employees’ absorptive capacity affects the relationship between FIK and SME exporters’ performance. Originality/value The study demonstrates the types of knowledge relevant to SME export performance. The study further demonstrates the moderating effect of employee absorptive capacity on the relationship between knowledge and export performance. The study advances existing knowledge on SME performance, especially from an emerging economy context.

Download Full-text

Does R&D investment affect export intensity? The moderating effect of ownership

International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting ◽

10.1504/ijmfa.2018.091075 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 65 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mario Ossorio

Keyword(s):

Moderating Effect ◽

Export Intensity ◽

D Investment

Download Full-text

The Moderating Effect of R&D Investment on Income and Carbon Emissions in China: Direct and Spatial Spillover Insights

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11051235 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 1235 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Shaozhou Qi ◽

Huarong Peng ◽

Xiujie Tan

Keyword(s):

Carbon Emissions ◽

Knowledge Spillovers ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Positive Influence ◽

Moderating Effect ◽

Low Carbon ◽

Coal Consumption ◽

Spatial Spillover ◽

Low Carbon Economy ◽

D Investment

R&D investment plays a great role in achieving China’s low-carbon economy goals, which has a moderating effect on the relationship between income and carbon emissions. Furthermore, such a moderating effect may have spatial differences, given the possible spatial dependence of carbon emissions. Therefore, this paper explores the direct and spatial spillover moderating effects of R&D investment by adopting the panel spatial Durbin model and data of 30 provinces in China during 1998–2015. The empirical results firstly indicate that R&D investment moderates the positive impact of income on local carbon emissions for both the non-spatial and spatial model, and that more R&D investment can make carbon emissions reach the turning point earlier. Secondly, R&D investment in the local province increases the positive influence of local income on neighboring carbon emissions, which mainly results from the transfer effect of carbon emissions rather than the knowledge spillovers effect. The results are indicated to be robust by three types of robustness analyses. Finally, FDI and patents are the main constrained forces of local and neighboring carbon emissions; coal consumption is the main driver of local carbon emissions.

Download Full-text

Moderating effect of absorptive capacity on the entrepreneurial orientation of international performance of family businesses

Journal of Family Business Management ◽

10.1108/jfbm-10-2017-0035 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 58-74 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Felipe Hernandez-Perlines

Keyword(s):

Absorptive Capacity ◽

Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Family Firms ◽

Absorption Capacity ◽

Family Businesses ◽

Moderating Effect ◽

Content Type ◽

International Performance ◽

Moderating Role

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the moderating effect of absorptive capacity on the entrepreneurial orientation of international performance of family businesses. Design/methodology/approach The sample for this study was collected from 218 family firms associated with the Family Business Institute (IEF). This paper used a structural equation model through PLS-SEM technique to test the proposed model and for contrasting the moderating effect of absorptive capacity on the entrepreneurial orientation of international performance of family businesses. Findings The main result of this work is that international performance of family businesses is determined, to a great extent, by the entrepreneurial orientation. In addition, this effect is reinforced by the absorption capacity, exerting a positive moderating role. Practical implications If family firms want to improve their international results, they must act in the entrepreneurial orientation through the effect of absorption capacities. Originality/value The originality of this work comes from the discovery of the new moderating role of absorption capacities in family firms.

Download Full-text