The Mediating Role of Absorptive Capacity in Knowledge Transfer

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Femi Adisa ◽  
Jeremy Rose
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Shared Understanding ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Erp Implementation ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Multiple Case

Knowledge transfer between consultants and organizational users influences the outcomes of an Enterprise Resource System (ERP) implementation. Configuration and implementation tasks are dependent on generating some level of shared understanding of both business practices and technology. These problems become acute in implementations in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs often operate with non-standard business processes, making an effective interchange of process knowledge between consultants and end-users crucial. Using a multiple case study method and content analysis, the authors investigate the mediating role of absorptive capacity in knowledge transfer in SMEs ERP implementations. They present exploratory case studies from 3 Nigerian companies with varying outcomes, and hypothesize that knowledge transfer is complicated by acute information asymmetry, absence of pre-existing related knowledge and consequent difficulties in developing a shared understanding, and by a tendency to operate with lone consultants and lone organizational representatives.

scholarly journals Analyzing the Process of Absorptive Capacity: A Case Study of Garment SMEs in Yogyakarta

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-319
Author(s):  
Dede Iskandar Siregar ◽  
◽  
Anjar Priyono ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
External Environment ◽  
Natural Process ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Innovation Capability ◽  
Knowledge Process ◽  
Traditional Approaches

Abstract: Absorptive capacity is defined as the company's ability to identify, explore, and apply knowledge gained from the external environment into the form of services. Previous studies examined this generally put forward the role of R&D and leadership authority to neglect the natural process of absorptive capacity. As a knowledge process, its natural process unseparated from the involvement of all parties in the company (including employees). This study aims to analyze the absorptive capacity process in Gramen SMEs located in Yogyakarta with its characteristics that still prioritize business practices based on traditional approaches and local wisdom. By adopting a qualitative based on case studies, it found that the process of absorbing information generally carried out through informal interactions with customers and various communities. It is also confirmed that each stage of absorptive capacity does not always flow linearly, and the intensity of the absorption holds by companies determined by innovations required and the characteristics of the company. Keywords: Absorptive capacity; exploration; transformation; exploitation; innovation capability.

Executives’ Decision Processes at the Front End of Major Projects: The Role of Context and Experience in Value Creation

2020 ◽  
pp. 875697282097722
Author(s):  
Denise Chenger ◽  
Jaana Woiceshyn
Keyword(s):  
Value Creation ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Decision Processes ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Decision Context ◽  
Front End ◽  
Risk Approach ◽  
Multiple Case

The front end of projects is strategically important; yet, how project concepts are identified, evaluated, and selected at the pre-project stage is poorly understood. This article reports on an inductive multiple-case study of how executives made such decisions in major upstream oil and gas projects. The findings show that in such a high-risk context, often an experienced executive makes these decisions alone and he creates value by facilitating growth. We identified three value-creating decision processes that varied by the executives’ risk approach and decision context. These processes depart from the formal project management prescriptions and the strategic decision-making literature.

scholarly journals The Mediating Role of Absorptive Capacity in the Relationship between Research Community Participation and Open Innovation

2021 ◽  
Vol 124 ◽  
pp. 08010
Author(s):  
Rabiah Eladwiah Abdul Rahim ◽  
Nor’ashikin Ali ◽  
Juraifa Jais
Keyword(s):  
Community Participation ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Top Management Support ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
The Relationship

This study aims to investigate the factors influencing research community participation and open innovation through the mediating role of absorptive capacity from the lens of Resource Based View and Dynamic Capability perspectives. Based on a survey of 115 senior engineering faculties from three research universities in Malaysia, this study applies the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to investigate the research model. The findings demonstrate that top management support has a major impact on research community participation. The findings also suggest that absorptive capacity mediates the association between research community participation and open innovation capability. This study provides a theoretical basis on the resources and capability that are pertinent for open innovation. From a practical perspective, the relationships among research community participation, absorptive capacity, and open innovation suggest how universities can promote research community participation and assess their absorptive capacity to achieve open innovation.

scholarly journals Online Communities and Open Innovation

Economics ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 652-666
Author(s):  
Alberto Francesconi ◽  
Riccardo Bonazzi ◽  
Claudia Dossena
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Linear Process ◽  
Innovation Approach

Online communities are becoming an important way to support firms towards an open innovation approach. However, knowledge shared in an online community represents only a potential for firm's innovation aims. The effectiveness of exploration and exploitation of this knowledge depends on firm's absorptive capacity. In this work the authors focus on the time an idea, shared within an online community, takes to be transformed from a ‘potential' into a ‘realized' innovation by a firm. In particular, conceiving knowledge as a trajectory across pole of attraction rather than a linear process, the authors develop a model inspired by the solar system metaphor. Preliminary results from a case study are presented. They suggest firms may improve the effectiveness of absorptive capacity exploiting the mediation role of a software tool.

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