Individual Absorptive Capacity Research Articles

Relationships among absorptive capacity, creativity and job performance: the moderating role of social media usage

PurposeThis paper investigates the impact of absorptive capacity (ACAP) on creativity and the effect of creativity on job performance. Further, the study investigates the moderating role of social media usage on the ACAP–creativity link and the creativity–job performance link. Accordingly, drawing on the ACAP perspective and social exchange theory (SET), the study develops a conceptual model and tests the proposed relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe paper empirically tests the developed model using 512 survey responses from research and development (R&D) employees. Data were factor analyzed, and path estimates were determined using structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results reveal that (1) individual ACAP is positively related to creativity; (2) creativity is positively associated with job performance and (3) social media usage positively moderates the relationship between individual ACAP and creativity.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the ACAP and creativity literature by establishing a comprehensive and empirically grounded framework that enlightens the relationships between ACAP, creativity, job performance and the moderating role of social media usage.

Fostering individual-level absorptive capacity and adaptive performance through leadership context

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effects of trait goal orientations (mastery, performance-prove and performance-avoid goals) on individual-level absorptive capacity (AC), ultimately adaptive performance. This study also explores the cross-level moderating effects of transformational leadership climate on these mediated relationships.Design/methodology/approachData from 480 participants in 76 teams from accounting firms in Northeast Thailand were analyzed using the multilevel method.FindingsFindings showed support for positive indirect effects from approach-related goal orientations (mastery and performance-prove) to adaptive performance via AC and a negative indirect effect from avoid goal orientation to adaptive performance via AC. Results showed that a transformational leadership climate strengthens the relationship between goal orientations and AC, but only when team members have a high level of approach-related goals.Originality/valueThis study extends previous work by providing an understanding of how a transformational leadership context and the differences in goal orientations interact to promote or impede an individual's AC. It also extends our understanding of the mechanism of how AC mediated the effects of trait goal orientations and transformational leadership climate on adaptive performance.

The impact of organizational practices on formation and development of psychological contract: expatriates' perception-based view

PurposeBased on signaling and motivation theories, this study investigates the impact of organizational practices on the formation and development of expatriates' psychological contracts in three stages. Stage 1: the impact of the selection process on psychological contract formation with the mediating role of perceived organizational justice. Stage 2: the impact of pre-departure training on psychological contract formation with the mediating role of individual absorptive capacity. Stage 3: the impact of perceived organizational support on psychological contract development with the mediating role of expatriates' adjustment.Design/methodology/approachBy using a purposive sampling technique, the respondents were approached via e-mails and personal visits in three waves, each wave had 45 days gap. After three waves, a total of 402 complete questionnaires were received back. To test the hypotheses, the partial least squares-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was used.FindingsStage 1: effective selection process and perceived organizational justice positively support the psychological contract formation. Stage 2: the pre-departure training and individual absorptive capacity have a positive influence on the psychological contract formation of expatriates. Stage 3: the perceived organizational support and psychological contract development have a positive direct association. However, expatriates' adjustment does not mediate the association between perceived organizational support and the psychological contract development of expatriates.Practical implicationsThe implications of this study are supportive to the organizations that deal with expatriates. The organizations should adopt practices (i.e. effective selection process, pre-departure training and perceived organizational support) for effective formation of psychological contract formation and development. In addition, perceived organizational justice, individual absorptive capacity and expatriates' adjustment can help out in the formation and development of the psychological contract of expatriates.Originality/valueThis study highlights the role of organizational best practices in the formation and development of the psychological contract of expatriates.

The Effect of Individual’s Technological Belief and Usage on Their Absorptive Capacity towards Their Learning Behaviour in Learning Environment

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.

Understanding new corporate innovation strategies: hybrid high-involvement approaches and the increasing importance of individual absorptive capacity

Driven by the challenges of digitalisation and increasing market dynamics, corporations must develop new strategies for innovation and knowledge management. This paper describes hybrid high-involve...

Understanding new corporate innovation strategies: hybrid high-involvement approaches and the increasing importance of individual absorptive capacity

Understanding new corporate innovation strategies: hybrid high-involvement approaches and the increasing importance of individual absorptive capacity

The role of prevailing individual absorptive capacity versus absorptive capacity development for different innovation outcomes

ABSTRACT Utilising absorptive capacity theory, this study examines whether organisations should outsource knowledge acquisition of employees, i.e.,, by hiring employees with prevailing relevant knowledge, or whether to invest in the development of employees’ knowledge within the organisation for different types of innovations. Three hundred and thirty-five Danish firms in the European Manufacturing Survey reveal that individual knowledge must be differently organised to achieve different innovative outcomes. For new product development, organisations benefit from investing in employees with the highest possible domain-specific absorptive capacity, whilst for product-related service innovations, employees with more general knowledge should be hired. For the latter, employees’ individual absorptive capacity should be developed internally for best innovation outcomes. Irrespective of the type of innovation, providing flexible work arrangements is beneficial for performance and this effect is further substantiated by firm’s cross-functional capabilities. Important implications emerge for the organisation in terms of outsourcing versus developing individual absorptive capacity for different innovations.

Knowledge sharing direction and innovation performance in organizations

PurposeBecause the mechanism of how knowledge sharing affects organizational innovation is still unclear, the study focuses on the relationship between knowledge sharing and organizational innovation performance, with a focus on mediating role of absorptive capacity and individual creativity.Design/methodology/approachOn the basis of the knowledge base view and organizational learning theory, the study propose a model to verify the impact of inbound and outbound knowledge sharing on organizational innovation performance based on previous research. It also analyzed how these effects were mediated by individual creativity and absorptive capacity. The study collected 166 samples to verify the theoretical model.FindingsResults corroborate that inbound knowledge sharing cannot directly promote organizational innovation performance, and absorptive capacity has a full mediation effect between inbound knowledge sharing and organizational innovation performance. Knowledge outbound sharing, individual creativity and absorptive capacity can improve innovation performance. In addition, absorptive capacity and individual creativity have direct and significant impacts on organizational innovation performance. Moreover, absorptive capacity plays a partial mediate role between individual creativity and innovation performance. Finally, this study discusses the policy implications of the study and describes possible future research directions.Originality/valueThe paper creatively divides knowledge sharing into inbound knowledge sharing and outbound knowledge sharing and verifies that knowledge sharing does not directly affect organizational innovation performance. The mediating role of absorptive capacity and individual creativity was analysis.

THE SYNERGISTIC ROLE OF INDIVIDUAL ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY AND INDIVIDUAL AMBIDEXTERITY IN OPEN INNOVATION: A MODERATED-MEDIATION MODEL

Managers employed in the dual gatekeeper-shepherd roles in open innovation contexts need to combine external knowledge inflows with existing internal knowledge to drive innovative work behaviour. This study explores how such managers leverage knowledge sources at the firm boundary, to drive innovation activities, by using their individual-level capabilities of absorptive capacity and ambidexterity. To collect data for the study, 121 technology managers employed in four large automotive equipment manufacturing firms in India were surveyed using an online questionnaire. Structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the direct, moderation and mediation relationships hypothesised in the study. The results demonstrate the synergistic roles played by individual absorptive capacity and individual ambidexterity in enhancing the innovative behaviour of managers operating in an open innovation context. This study contributes to the theory related to the understudied individual-level analyses of open innovation and offers recommendations for managers looking to increase their innovativeness at work.

INDIVIDUAL ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY AND ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION IN SUCCESSORS OF RURAL PROPERTIES

ABSTRACT Purpose: This study sought to explore the association between the constructs individual absorptive capacity and entrepreneurial intention in successors of rural properties in a cooperative system. Originality/value: The contribution presented expands the field of entrepreneurship studies and family succession, as well as it brings elements for the management of rural properties. Empirically, the results offer new elements for managers of cooperatives and other similar organizations to formulate strategies to assist in the preparation of the successors’ dilemma. Design/methodology/approach: The design of the adopted method followed a quantitative approach, of descriptive level, of the type survey, and transverse section. The study included 84 successors of rural properties, who were participants in a Skills Development Program for the continuity of young people in the management of properties. Questionnaires were used to evaluate the constructs of individual absorptive capacity and entrepreneurial intention. The statistical analysis used the Kruskal-Wallis with the Dunn post hoc adjusted by the Benjamini-Hochberg FDR method, Spearman correlation, and modeling structural equations with estimation by Partial Least Squares. Findings: The main conclusion of the study suggests that the successors with greater perceived behavioral control assimilate and transform more knowledge with applicability potential in the succession management in rural properties.

Individual-Level Absorptive Capacity and Knowledge Transfer During International Assignments

The present study highlighted the effects of individual level absorptive capacity (ACAP) on knowledge transfer in international assignments. We examine the role of ACAP for expatriates as well as f...

THE OUTCOMES OF INDIVIDUAL ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY AMONG ACADEMICIANS IN MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

Purpose of the Study: This paper investigates the ability of Malaysian public universities to achieve high academic standing within the top 100 world ranking universities depending on prolific and multitalented academicians who own multi-skills to support the universities’ academic excellences. Methodology: A total of 800 questionnaires were distributed to all public universities in Malaysia for the purpose of data collection and a total of 342 questionnaires were returned representing a response rate of 42.75 percent. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results: This study has contributed to the nations by highlighting the current capabilities of academic workforce that will either influence or hinder the growth of their knowledge acquisition and innovative behavior that will influence the future of Malaysian academic excellences. Implications: Academicians are under pressure to be prolific and versatile to achieve their universities’ goals in addition to their multitasking jobs including teaching, publication, consultation, research, and social welfare. Owing to that matter, the study on individual absorptive capacity, which refers to the ability of Malaysian academicians to absorb knowledge that determines their level of learning capabilities and leads to fulfilling universities’ and national agenda, is worth studying.

Risk as a Predictor of Online Competitive Information Acquisition

AbstractThis study set out to investigate how personal user traits and behavior and information cues influence the acquisition of online information for actionable decisions. The relationship between personal traits (risk propensity and individual information absorptive capacity), behavioral factors (perceived risk and willingness-to-pay) and informational cues (scenario risk level) was examined by conducting an experiment with 125 mid-level managers. Participants were exposed to high- and low-risk scenarios, given the opportunity to consume free and fee-based competitive information sources, and asked to make a managerial decision. Results of the Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) for information sources indicate: (i) a significant correlation between the perceived risk and WTP, (ii) a significant correlation between the perceived risk and the number of competitive intelligence information items bought, (iii) individual absorptive capacity has high internal reliability, and (iv) investment risk propensity and individual information absorptive capacity did not influence WTP or willingness-to-consume competitive intelligence information. Informational cues rather than personal traits impact decision makers' WTP and willingness to-consume competitive intelligence information. This suggests that best practices should be developed for the use of online information sources in decision-making calibrated to the risk level. Risk level indication may also aid to avoid biases stemming from under- or overuse of information.

How Do IT Users’ Attributes Influence Innovative Use of IT: The Mediating Role of Individual Absorptive Capacity

Individual innovation is increasingly considered as a crucial element of organizational innovation. Prior research on user attributes as antecedents of innovation behavior (e.g., innovative use of IT) has identified three key factors: domain-specific knowledge and skills (e.g., prior knowledge), creativity-related skills (e.g., absorptive capacity), and intrinsic motivation. However, it is still unclear how these factors jointly impact the innovative use of IT. To address this knowledge gap, we propose a model that builds on the absorptive capacity theory and creativity literature to study how individuals' innovative use of IT is influenced by prior knowledge, absorptive capacity, and intrinsic motivation as well as their joint interactions. Conceptualizing prior knowledge in two constructs (IT knowledge and domain knowledge) and absorptive capacity in four constructs (acquisition, assimilation, transformation, and exploitation), we empirically validate the proposed model with a survey of 249 business intelligence (BI) system users. In addition, we identify two mediating roles of absorptive capacity: indirect-only or complementary. The findings enhance our understanding of the innovative use of IT.

The Role of Individual Absorptive Capacity, Subjective-Wellbeing and Cultural Fit in Predicting International Student’s Academic Achievement and Novelty in China

This study investigated the role of cognitive-(absorptive capacity), psychological-(subjective-wellbeing) and cultural-fit-factors as predictors of academic achievement-novelty in a Chinese-C9-league-University. We addressed the question of what drive student’s achievement of high graduations requirements and innovativeness in their Host-University; focusing mainly on whether interactionistic-nature-(fit-capabilities) are better mechanisms. The quantitative approach was adopted; collect 234 valid data via survey questionnaire, and conduct analysis via structural equation modeling technique. We found that individual-absorptive-capacity has significant effect on supervisor-fit, but a non-significant effect on university-fit dimensions of cultural-fit. Subjective-wellbeing significantly affects both dimensions of cultural-fit. The findings further show how supervisor-fit and university-fit indirectly mediate the (absorptive-capacity, subjective-wellbeing)-achievement-novelty relationship. We highlight the importance of cultural-diversity-awareness; considering supervisor-institutional-fit-factors in research-mentorship-development to support international-students ‘induction for research productivity in educational-settings.

Conceptualizing Knowledge Management, Individual Absorptive Capacity and Innovation Capability: A Proposed Framework

Conceptualizing Knowledge Management, Individual Absorptive Capacity and Innovation Capability: A Proposed Framework

Enriching individual absorptive capacity

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to offer an understanding of the development and consequence of absorptive capacity (AC) at the individual level of analysis. The authors assess how perception of organizational commitment to learning and intrinsic motivation affects individual potential AC, and employee creativity and job performance as the key outcomes of individual AC. Furthermore, the authors examined the dual role of realized AC as a mediator in the potential AC-creativity relationship, and a moderator on the creativity-job performance relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws from 125 paired supervisor-employee survey data, where supervisors rated subordinates’ creativity and job performance. Hierarchical regression was used to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results confirm that both perception of organizational commitment to learning and intrinsic motivation contribute to the development of individual potential AC (above and beyond extrinsic motivation). Individual realized AC mediated the potential AC-creativity relationship. Employee creativity was positively related to job performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis study speaks directly to the question of how an organization can encourage its employees to absorb new knowledge, and the benefits of employee learning activities on their creativity and job performance.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to offer a more nuanced understanding of the development and consequences of individual AC – a level of analysis has been lack of empirical studies. It further point out how individual characteristic and perceptions can influence their learning capacity, and in turn, their performance.

Interfirm ties and knowledge transfer: The moderating role of absorptive capacity of managers

Through the lens of social capital perspective, this paper assesses how individuals' interactions and their learning capabilities explain the transfer of good practices in an interorganizational network. Primary data were collected from export consortia in Tunisia through a questionnaire survey. The research underlines the impact of the strength and the range of ties between managers. It is also found that managers' absorptive capacity moderates the impact of the strength of ties. This study considers the individual's behavior at the heart of the knowledge transfer process and suggests a substitution effect between the strength of social ties and individual's absorptive capacity.

Knowledge Sharing Barriers in Vietnamese Higher Education Institutions (HEIS)

This article explores the barriers for sharing knowledge effectiveness in Vietnamese higher education institutions (HEIs). Data were analyzed and triangulated from interviews, and focus groups from different universities and from government and university websites. Three significant factors were identified: bureaucratic management causing a lack of autonomy in decision-making, poor knowledge management systems, and weak individual absorptive capacity. The results demonstrate these three factors as a significant influence on academic staff to share absorb and create new knowledge measured by journal publication output, and graduate quality. The research findings provide insights on the Vietnamese higher education landscape in the transition from a centralized economy to a market economy.

Dynamic SQL Knowledge As A Mechanism For Increasing Individual Absorptive Capacity

Technology continues to evolve rapidly, and organizations need to constantly evolve to keep up with the latest innovations in hardware, software, and processes to strategically select and manage technology. Underlying these firm capabilities are the employees that monitor, plan, and implement technology improvements, thereby it is critical that organizations have employees that can contribute to firm absorptive capacity and who can strategically take advantage of technology innovations. In this theoretical paper, we examine what type of curriculum MIS undergraduate programs might implement to prepare students for careers in the dynamically evolving realm of technology-infused organizations. We posit that students need to go beyond the adage of “learning how to learn”, but instead need to have the skills and the mindset to compete in a technology-enabled environment. Specifically, we examine a learning module on Dynamic SQL delivered in an advanced database course, and analyze why introducing a rigorous and complex learning module can develop and expand students’ absorptive capacity resulting in a competitive advantage when entering the workforce.