The Past and Future of Absorptive Capacity

Abstract

“Absorptive capacity,” a widely studied construct in management research, remains underexplored in terms of its theoretical roots and development. In this curated collection, we present and analyze articles from the Academy of Management’s family of journals, shedding light on organizations’ abilities to recognize, assimilate, and apply external knowledge. We enhance our collective understanding of absorptive capacity by delineating four schools of thought that have been advanced through the articles in our collection. In addition to opportunities for further developing and integrating the ideas of the four schools of thought, we identify three themes for future research that span the schools and that also have the potential to leverage progress in this area of research. Building on the curated work, we explain opportunities for future research to tackle unresolved issues to offer insights regarding the roles of individuals and the microfoundations in the process and multidimensionality of absorptive capacity. We further explain the need to examine how advanced artificial intelligence may affect absorptive capacity, and call for future work to add to our understanding in this domain.