Absorptive Capacity and Enterprise Systems Implementation: The Role of Prior-Related Knowledge

Abstract

In this paper, we focus on how firms engaged in enterprise systems (ES) implementations absorb knowledge from consultant companies. We take a practice-based view of absorptive capacity (AC) and focus on how prior-related knowledge - a necessary condition to absorb new external knowledge - is created (when it is lacking). We therefore move from the traditional positivistic approach to AC to a more nuanced and practice-based approach of the construct, involving materiality and power considerations. We contribute to the IS literature by providing an account of AC that departs from the deterministic and outcome-focused approach that has characterized past studies and propose a view that accounts for everyday practices.