Absorptive Capacity, Co-opetition, and Knowledge Creation: Samsung’s Leapfrogging in Semiconductors

Abstract

Abstract Most, if not all, firms in developing countries are engrossed in activities to catch up with advanced countries. Even the majority of firms in advanced countries are en- gaged in catching up, as not all firms can be pioneers of novel breakthroughs even in these countries. Nonetheless, research on organizational knowledge creation and innovation is concentrated mainly in advanced countries and is focused mostly on the pioneering process (Dodgson, 1993; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Utterback, 1994; von Hippel, 1988).