scholarly journals By the Book or Out of the Box? Top Decision Maker Cognitive Style, Gender, and Firm Absorptive Capacity

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Pryor ◽  
Robert Hirth ◽  
Yanghua Jin

Despite scholars’ early emphasis on the role people play in fostering firms’ absorptive capacity (AC), research has not deeply explored the individual-level antecedents of this important capability. We draw on adaptive-innovative theory to explain how top decision makers’ cognitive styles can influence the degree to which their firms develop AC. Top decision makers who have high adaptive cognitive style prefer to adhere to existing norms, follow established procedures, and rely on current knowledge, and we argue that these attributes will strengthen those dimensions of AC based on firms’ existing knowledge and knowledge-assimilation abilities. Top decision makers who have high innovative cognitive style are more likely to reframe information, experiment with new problem-solving approaches, and take risks by violating norms, and we argue that these attributes may strengthen those dimensions of AC based on firms’ acquisition of new knowledge and the assimilation of knowledge throughout the firm. We also argue that gender differences may moderate these effects. Empirical results support our hypotheses.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 718
Author(s):  
Thomas Dolmark ◽  
Osama Sohaib ◽  
Ghassan Beydoun ◽  
Kai Wu

Absorptive capacity is a common barrier to knowledge transfer at the individual level. However, technology absorptive capacity can enhance an individual’s learning behaviour. This study investigates that technology readiness, the tools for knowledge sources, social influences, and social networks influence an individual’s absorptive capacity on an adaptation of the individual learning behaviour. A quantitative approach is used to assess the presence of a causal relationship from the constructs mentioned above. Data were collected from university students in Australia to examine the hypotheses. With 199 responses, a partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach was used for the analysis. The results generated mixed findings. Individual’s technological belief in optimism and innovation and social influences had a significantly weaker effect on individual absorptive capacity, which in turn had a significantly weaker impact on their learning behaviour.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2156
Author(s):  
Vitalii V. VOLYNETS ◽  
Volodymyr A. SICHEVLIUK ◽  
Ilona V. KAMINSKA

At the present stage of its development, the general theory of law is aimed at achieving, as far as possible, a greater degree of practical use. Legal theorists seek to answer questions that are devoid of scholastic nature and derive from the practice of real legal relations. The performance of this task involves the movement of fundamental science, which is the general theory of state and law, on the path of ascending from the array of abstract reflections of legal reality, already formed by it, to obtaining its more specific theoretical reproductions. The purpose of this study is to present the correlation of categories such as ‘legal person’ and ‘legal personality’. The relevance of the study lies in the inability to gain new knowledge without the dialectical application of the framework of categories and concepts and methodology of the theory of law to the study of special (e.g., branch) and single (implemented at the individual level) legal phenomena in their relation to the general regularities of the functioning of the state and law. The research presents the content, correlation and meaning of these categories in the theory of law, and demonstrates their diversified use in Ukrainian legislation. The content of the category ‘subject of law’ covers those persons to whom the rights, duties and responsibilities, which are enshrined in the rules of objective law, are addressed. The category of ‘legal personality’ emphasizes the key role of objective law in constituting legal personality.  


1988 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita ◽  
David Lalman

Systemic theorists emphasize the interplay of the distribution of power, the number of poles, and their tightness in predicting the occurrence of major-power war. The authors link individual-level incentives to these systemic constraints as factors that might affect the likelihood of war. They believe that their model specification is more comprehensive than any prior effort to evaluate the impact of structural attributes on the risk of major-power war. Empirical results from the individual-level prespective are encouraging when one examines European crises from 1816 to 1965, but there is no evidence that decision makers were significantly constrained by variations in the structural attributes. Neither the distribution of power nor the number or tightness of poles appears to influence the risk of war.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (05) ◽  
pp. 2050077
Author(s):  
KATJA-MARIA PREXL ◽  
MARCO HUBERT ◽  
MIRJA HUBERT ◽  
ANTJE GONERA

Absorptive capacity (AC) describes new knowledge absorption and its use for innovation on an organisational level. In this paper, we explore the role of individual AC (IAC) for corporate innovation. We focus on the individual and relationships among the capability dimensions of existing AC models. A quantitative online survey allows us to empirically explore and underline the role of the individual in AC. Our findings contribute to and extend existing theories of AC, by confirming the multidimensionality of IAC, shed light on the view of transformation and exploitation as alternative paths and their effect on different innovation processes. Our research highlights the individual’s central role in innovation and introduces, explores and evaluates individual capacities to absorb new knowledge. This in consequence will influence processes and structures within a company with regard to innovation and human resource management.


Author(s):  
Kris Ven ◽  
Peter De Bruyn

Previous research has shown that the knowledge that is available to an organization is an important factor influencing the adoption of open source software (OSS). Hence, it is important that organizations develop their absorptive capacity in order to successfully adopt OSS. Absorptive capacity refers to the ability of an organization to acquire, assimilate, and exploit new knowledge. However, no study has specifically investigated how organizations can develop their absorptive capacity by acquiring knowledge about OSS. This paper addresses this gap in research by investigating the organizational knowledge assimilation process within the context of the adoption of OSS. Based on a case study conducted at the Flemish government, a framework that is grounded in literature and that illustrates which contextual factors influence the development of absorptive capacity in the context of the adoption of OSS was developed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 71 (S1) ◽  
pp. S189-S218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Renshon ◽  
Julia J. Lee ◽  
Dustin Tingley

AbstractWhile emotions are widely regarded as integral to the “behavioral approach” to International Relations (IR), a host of fundamental problems have delayed the integration of affective influences into traditional models of IR. We aim to integrate affect by focusing on commitment problems, a body of work that contains strong theoretical predictions about how individual decision makers will and should act. Across two lab experiments, we use a novel experimental protocol that includes a psychophysiological measure of emotional arousal (skin conductance reactivity) to study how individuals react to changes in bargaining power. While we find support for one key pillar of IR theory—individuals do reject offers when they expect the opponent's power to increase—we also find that physiological arousal tampers with individuals’ ability to think strategically in the manner predicted by canonical models. Our follow-up experiment mimics the elements of institutional solutions to commitment problems and finds support for their efficacy on the individual level. Our novel findings suggest that when individuals face large power shifts, emotional arousal short-circuits their ability to “think forward and induct backwards,” suggesting that emotionally aroused individuals are less prone to commitment problems.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1319-1341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandor Lowik ◽  
Jeroen Kraaijenbrink ◽  
Aard J. Groen

Purpose The paper aims to understand how individuals differ in individual absorptive capacity – their ability to recognize, assimilate, transform and exploit external knowledge. These individual absorptive capacities are a key knowledge management building block for an organization’s open innovation practices. The study examines individual antecedents – human capital, social capital and cognition – and innovation outcomes of individual absorptive capacity. Design/methodology/approach This is a quantitative study of 147 employees in a single medium-sized Dutch industrial firm. Based on a survey and structural equation modeling, the antecedents’ prior knowledge diversity, network diversity and cognitive style are examined in relation to individual absorptive capacity. Further, the mediating effects of individual absorptive capacity on its antecedents and innovation outcome are investigated. Findings The main findings are that prior knowledge diversity, external network diversity and a bisociative cognitive style explain differences in individual absorptive capacity. A bisociative cognitive style appears to be the most important factor. Also, this study finds that individual absorptive capacity mediates between its antecedents and individual innovation performance and is therefore a relevant factor to capture value from external knowledge sources. Research limitations/implications The study extends open innovation theory by exploring individual-level factors that explain the ability to capture value from external knowledge. It suggests that differences in open innovation practices are explained by heterogeneity at the individual level. Further, it explains how individuals’ potentials for open innovation are mediated by their absorptive capacities. These insights enable future researchers to further examine individual-level factors in knowledge management practices and to explore cross-level individual-organizational interactions for open innovation. Practical implications This paper highlights that individuals’ engagements in open innovation practices are explained not only by individuals’ motivations but also by their abilities to absorb external knowledge. Further, it helps managers to design knowledge management practices to promote employees’ absorptive capacities, to improve open innovation processes. Originality/value This study investigates the neglected individual-level factors of open innovation practices from a micro-foundational and knowledge management perspective. To our best knowledge, this is the first study to examine individual-level antecedents and outcomes of individual absorptive capacity.


2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 279-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Salvato ◽  
Salvatore Sciascia ◽  
Fernando G. Alberti

The authors propose a conceptualization of corporate entrepreneurship as an organizational capability that allows firms to overcome internal constraints systematically so that they can reinvent themselves through novel business initiatives. The paper adopts the knowledge-based concept of absorptive capacity to identify the microfoundations of a firm's corporate entrepreneurship capability for opportunity recognition and exploitation. It advances a model that combines the individual-level role of entrepreneurial managers with firm-level efforts to strengthen entrepreneurial processes over time.


10.28945/4841 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 371-395
Author(s):  
Mohamed Emran Hossain ◽  
Imran Mahmud ◽  
Rozhan M Idrus

Aim/Purpose: The main aim of this study is to identify the factors that influence the continuance intention of use of innovative systems by non-academic employees of a private university and associated academic institutions in Bangladesh. Background: The targeted academic institutions have introduced many new online services aimed at improving students’ access to information and services, including a new online library, ERP or online forum, and the jobs-tracking system (JTS). This research is focused only on the JTS for two reasons. First, it is one of the most crucial systems for the Daffodil Family, as it enables efficient working across many institutes spread across the country and abroad. Second, it is employed in a wide variety of organisational institutes, not just the university. This study aims to discover negative factors that lead to a decrease in users’ intentions to continue using the system. The ultimate goal is to improve the motivation among administrative staff to use technology-related innovation by reducing or eliminating the problems. Methodology: G* power analysis was employed to determine the expected sample size. A questionnaire survey was conducted of 211 users of a new job tracking system from a private university in Bangladesh, to collect data for testing the suggested research model. The data was analysed using the structural equation technique, which is a powerful multivariate analysis mechanism. Contribution: This research contributes to the body of literature and helps better understand users’ continuance intention in the post-implementation phase of the JTS. It complements the micro-level examinations of continuance intention of using IT, by building on our understanding of the phenomenon at the individual level. Specifically, this study examines the role of technostress where organisations invest in IT to make their users more comfortable with innovative and new technologies like the JTS. Findings: This research develops a theoretical advancement of the expectation-confirmation theory, with implications for IT managers and senior management dealing with IT-related behaviour. All proposed hypotheses were supported. Specifically, the predictors of exhaustion – work overload, work–life balance, and role ambiguity – are significant. The core factors for satisfaction, perceived usefulness, and confirmation, are also found to be significant. Finally, satisfaction and exhaustion significantly influence continuance intention, in both positive and negative ways. Recommendations for Practitioners: This study gives an idea about some of the difficulties that people face when implementing new and innovative IT, particularly in academia in Bangladesh. It offers insights into strategies the management may want to follow when implementing new technology like the JTS. This study suggests strategies to increase satisfaction and reduce technostress among new users to enhance organisational support for change. Recommendation for Researchers: Methodologically, the study provides researchers about the technique that reduces the threat of the common method bias. First, it created a psychological separation between criterion and predictor variables. Second, the threat of common method variance was actively controlled by modelling a latent method factor and by using marker variables that researchers can use in their work. This study complements the micro-level examinations of continuance intention of using IT by building on our understanding of the phenomenon at the individual level. Researchers can extend this model by integrating other theories. Impact on Society: The findings of the study indicate that work overload, work–life conflict, and role ambiguity create tiredness, leading to lower user satisfaction with the system. Perceived usefulness and confirmation have an increasingly similar effect on users’ satisfaction with the system and their subsequent continuance intention. These findings tell university administrators what measures they should take to improve continuance intention of using innovative technology. Future Research: Future studies could conceptualise a five-factor personality model from the personal perspective of users. This model can also be extended by including the dimensions of absorptive capacity, i.e., the dynamic capabilities of users. Absorptive capacity of understanding, assimilating, and applying might influence the user’s perception of usefulness and confirmation of using JTS.


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