Moderating Effect Of Absorptive Capacity Research Articles

The mediating and moderating of absorptive capacity on human capital toward product innovation within MSMEs in Indonesia

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of absorptive capacity as a mediating and moderating factor to enhance the impact of human resources on product innovation in MSMEs engaged in the culinary creative industry. This study adopts a quantitative approach and collects primary data through a survey conducted among a couple of MSMEs in the culinary creative industry. The data is later analyzed using Smart PLS. The findings indicate that human capital and absorptive capacity have an impact on product innovation. The relationship between human capital and product innovation is negatively moderated by absorptive capacity, which also mediates this relationship. The conclusion of this study highlights several key points. Firstly, it emphasizes that MSMEs possess significant potential for generating new and unique product innovations by leveraging increased human capital. Additionally, the study emphasises the importance for MSMEs in order to enhance their absorptive capacity by strengthening external connectivity within their organizations. Lastly, it points out that the moderating effect of absorptive capacity can potentially reduce the positive influence of human capital on product innovation.

Impact of Diversity of Executive Team Career Experience and Cooperation Openness on Breakthrough Innovation Performance

In the era of rapid technological iteration in the digital economy, breakthrough innovation is the main source of core competitive advantage for enterprises. Based on Upper Echelons theory and Resource-based theory, using A-share listed companies in the computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing industries from 2010 to 2021 as research samples, this study explores the impact of diversity of executive team career experience on breakthrough innovation performance, and examines the mediating effect of cooperation openness and the moderating effect of absorptive capacity. The results indicate that the diversity of career experience in executive teams not only has a significant positive impact on breakthrough innovation performance, but also has a significant positive impact on cooperation openness; The cooperation openness has a significant positive impact on breakthrough innovation performance, and plays a partial mediating role between the diversity of career experience of executive teams and breakthrough innovation performance. The absorptive capacity positively regulates the relationship between cooperation openness and breakthrough innovation performance. This study provides a theoretical reference for enterprises to improve breakthrough innovation performance from the perspective of executive experience.

Digital Innovation and Core Competence of Manufacturing Industry: Moderating Role of Absorptive Capacity

ABSTRACT In the digital economy era, traditional manufacturing enterprises face a significant challenge due to fierce competition regarding products, channels, digital technology, management, and core competencies. As a result, many enterprises strive to leverage digital technology to gain new processes, products, services, and business models, thereby enhancing their competitive edge. This paper mainly focuses on how digital innovation based on different value-creation methods can help enterprises build their core competence. Using a sample of 254 questionnaires from manufacturing enterprises in China, this study investigates whether and how efficiency-based, convergence-based, and generativity-based digital innovation supports the development of core competence using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. Further, this paper examines the moderating effect of absorptive capacity. The empirical results indicate that digital innovation encourages the establishment of core competence, and absorptive capacity strengthens the role of efficiency-based digital innovation but inhibits convergence-based and generativity-based digital innovation. This study contributes to a clearer understanding of the significance of digital innovation for Chinese manufacturing enterprises and provides useful insights for other countries to rethink their innovation models.

How does authentic leadership promote taking charge: The mediating effect of team social capital and the moderating effect of absorptive capacity.

Authentic leaders are consistent with the expectations of Chinese traditional cultural values for leaders. The purpose of this study is to take team internal social capital (TISC) as the mediating variable and individual absorptive capacity as the moderating variable to explore the relationship between authentic leadership and taking charge. We collected 337 questionnaires from China and used linear regression to explore the influencing mechanisms and boundary conditions. The study results showed that the trickle-down of authentic leadership and the trickle-round of TISC can directly promote employees' taking charge. Further, individual absorptive capacity positively moderated the relationship between TISC and taking charge. Our study provides a new perspective of leadership support for employees to implement taking charge in the context of high-power distance in China. From the perspective of authentic leadership, it is verified that leadership support is a necessary condition to motivate employees to implement proactive behavior. Moreover, compared with the research on the influence of leadership on proactive behavior, team-related and organization-related factors have not received enough attention. According to the social learning theory, we constructed an integrated framework for the first time in which leadership, team, and individual jointly affect taking charge.

Co‐innovation behavior and sustainable innovation in competitive environments

AbstractDespite substantial efforts in examining the drivers of sustainable innovation, we still do not know enough about the impact of co‐innovation behavior. In this study, we investigated the effect of co‐innovation behavior on sustainable innovation and the combinative effect of absorptive capacity and competitive intensity on this relationship. Data collected from 312 firms revealed that a firm's level of co‐innovation behaviors is positively associated with sustainable innovation. Moreover, we find that the effect of co‐innovation behaviors on sustainable innovation is amplified when absorptive capacity is high. Finally, the moderating effect of absorptive capacity is exacerbated by competitive intensity. These findings contribute to the co‐innovation and sustainable innovation literature. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The impact of the institutional environment of the host country on the perception of compliance risk of the international engineering contractor: the moderating effect of absorptive capacity

PurposeWhile there is a general belief that a defective institutional environment will lead to higher compliance risk, the current state of knowledge about how the institutional environment affects enterprises' compliance is equivocal. This study aims to explore how does the host country's institutional environment affect the compliance risk perception of international engineering contractors and how to mitigate this impact.Design/methodology/approachThis study empirically tests the impact of the institutional environment from the two dimensions of the institutional environment: legal completeness reflects whether the formal regulations are clear, detailed and comprehensive and legal effectiveness reflects whether rules and policies can be implemented effectively when the proper legal codes are provided. Based on 213 questionnaire data, this study uses partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) and Smart PLS software to test the hypothesis.FindingsThis study finds a negative relationship between the host country's legal completeness (LC) or legal effectiveness (LE) and a contractor's compliance risk perception. Further, the results show potential absorptive capacity (PAC) and realized absorptive capacity (RAC) of a contractor are critical for mitigating the impact of low LC in the host country, but not when LE is low.Practical implicationsThe findings will be useful for international engineering contractors to respond to the compliance risk of the host country, both in choices of overseas investment locations and compliance capacity building.Originality/valueThis study reveals the impact of the host country's institutional environment on the compliance risk perception of international contractors, and provides theoretical guidance for how to alleviate the compliance barriers brought by the host country's institutional environment to international engineering contractors.

The Impact of Knowledge Power on Enterprise Breakthrough Innovation: From the Perspective of Boundary-Spanning Dual Search

Breakthrough innovation is key for enterprises to achieve extraordinary development, transformation and upgrading. In the open innovation environment, breakthrough innovation activities are considered to be closely related to enterprise knowledge power and external search strategies. However, there has been no systematic empirical study to explore the internal relationships among the three factors mentioned above. Based on resource dependence theory, this paper explored the impact of knowledge power on enterprise breakthrough innovation from the perspective of boundary-spanning dual search, and examined the moderating effect of absorptive capacity. Using the sample data of 239 knowledge intensive enterprises from China, this paper empirically tested the research hypothesis. The results showed that: (1) the two dimensions of knowledge power (including knowledge control and knowledge influence) have a significant positive impact on enterprise breakthrough innovation; (2) the breadth and depth of boundary-spanning search play a mediating role between knowledge power and enterprise breakthrough innovation; (3) enterprise absorptive capacity significantly strengthens the positive effect of boundary-spanning search on enterprise breakthrough innovation. This study clarified the relationship between knowledge power and breakthrough innovation and provided theoretical support for enterprises to actively take advantage of knowledge power to improve their breakthrough innovation performance.

Influence of knowledge flow and knowledge stock on the technological niche through absorptive capacity in the R&D network

ABSTRACT The technological niche in an R&D network is a pulse of sustainable innovation for enterprises. Through a knowledge-based view (KBV) lens, this study examines the role of knowledge flow (stock) to elevate technology niche breadth (overlap) with a moderating effect of absorptive capacity. Chinese automobile industry patent data for 2005–2018 have been analysed through STATA 12. The results verify that knowledge flow (stock) has an inverted U-shaped effect on technology niche breadth, whereas, the effect on niche overlap is U-shaped. Furthermore, when absorption capacity is high, a moderate knowledge flow widens the technological niche and shrinks the overlap. But, at higher absorptive capacity knowledge stock widens the technology niche breadth but has no significant influence on niche overlap. This study is one of its types to optimise the technological niche through absorptive capacity and adds to KBV and technology management literature. Practitioners should optimise knowledge stock and knowledge flow to elevate the technological niche.

The moderating effect of absorptive capacity on the technology search and innovation quality relationship in high-tech manufacturing firms

Based on the knowledge-based view, we conceptualize the technology search of high-tech manufacturing firms into three dimensions, namely search breadth, search depth, and balanced search, and construct the functional paths of the relationships between the different technology search dimensions and innovation quality of high-tech manufacturing firms. Grounded in absorptive capacity theory, we analyze how such relationships will change with the absorptive capacity level. Using data from China’s high-tech manufacturing industry from 2009 to 2017, we construct a panel data model to test the moderating effect of absorptive capacity on such relationships. Our research findings suggest: (i) Technology search breadth and depth each have a significant, inverted U-shaped relationship with innovation quality, i.e., technology search breadth and depth have an optimal point, and innovation quality exhibits an initial increasing and then decreasing trend. (ii) Balanced search has a significant positive relationship with innovation quality, i.e., there is a balanced point between technology search breadth and depth, and the higher the balance point is, the higher is innovation quality. (iii)Absorptive capacity does not merely positively moderate the relationship between technology search and innovation quality, but has different moderating effects under different search levels.

Analyzing the role of knowledge management process to enhance sustainable corporate performance: A mediation moderation model

In the contemporary world, green innovation (GI) is the most discussed area to enhance corporate sustainable performance (CSP) in manufacturing firms. The knowledge management (KM) process is also a key determinant of GI. Existing literature is limited to KM and its impact on CSP. This study aims to determine the effect of the KM process on sustainable corporate performance with the association of GI and absorptive capacity. The survey method was used to collect data from 250 respondents of manufacturing firms in Pakistan. Structure equation modeling was applied to collected data to obtain the results. Results show that all three dimensions of KM have a significant impact on GI. Furthermore, GI also has a significant and positive impact on sustainable corporate performance. Results further show that GI partially mediates the relationship of the KM process and sustainable corporate performance, and absorptive capacity moderates the relationship of the KM process and GI, but there was no moderating effect of absorptive capacity between the relationship of the KM process and CSP. The findings of this study will provide useful insights for experts and manufacturers. It will help to understand the role of KM in their organizational behavior by being an eco‐innovative ecological, economic, and social organization.

Strategic orientations, firm performance and the moderating effect of absorptive capacity

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to study the moderating effect of absorptive capacity, defined as the set of organizational routines and processes through which companies acquire, assimilate, transform and exploit knowledge to produce a dynamic organizational capacity (Zahra and George, 2002), in three strategic orientations: market orientation; technology orientation and entrepreneurial orientation and their positive relationship in the performance of the medium and large Mexican manufacturing firms. Likewise, it is determined whether these three combined SOs influence firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThe data was collected from 171 medium and large-sized Mexican manufacturing firms. The proposed hypotheses are tested using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsDespite the importance of knowledge for the development of firms, the results indicate that the moderating effect of absorptive capacity is only present in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. That is, firms cannot take advantage of knowledge simultaneously between the three strategic orientations. For their part, market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation exert a positive influence on firm performance.Practical implicationsThe main practical implication for the manufacturing industry is that they must develop mechanisms to detect what kind of knowledge affects each strategic orientation, in this way it can make the absorptive capacity influence the relationships between SO and FP.Originality/valueThe main contribution consists of studying the moderating effect of the absorptive capacity on the relationship between three strategic orientations and firm performance, and not concentrating solely on the simultaneous use of these strategies as is commonly done.

Research on the Relationships Among Customer Participation, Knowledge Integration and New Product Development Performance

Under the background of the knowledge economy, business managers have gradually realized that improving innovation performance requires breaking organizational boundaries to obtain knowledge, technology and other resources from the outside. As one of the important external subjects of new product development (NPD), customers actively participate in NPD activities become an effective way to acquire customer knowledge. However, there are still divergent studies on the effect of customer participation (CP) on NPD performance. In view of this, this research explores the relationship between customer participation, knowledge integration, absorptive capacity, and NPD performance, and this paper empirically studied the influence of CP on NPD performance through a large sample questionnaire survey, and focused on the analysis of the mediating role of knowledge integration and the moderating effect of absorptive capacity. The results show that CP has a significant positive effect on knowledge integration and NPD performance; knowledge integration has mediating effect between CP and NPD performance; Absorptive capacity positively moderates the relationship between CP and knowledge integration, but has no significant moderating effect on CP and NPD performance. From the perspective of knowledge management, this study links customer participation with NPD performance, and the research results not only have important theoretical implications for the in-depth study of customer participation, NPD performance, knowledge integration and absorptive capacity, but also have important practical significance to improve the success rate of NPD and promote high-quality development.

Is institutional pressure the mother of green innovation? Examining the moderating effect of absorptive capacity

The excessive consumption of natural resources in industrial development has led scholars to pay increasing attention to firms’ impact on the environment. Faced with considerable environmental pressure, many firms have begun to integrate green innovation into their business strategies. Based on the institutional theory and absorptive capacity perspective, this study examines the role of different institutional pillars on firms’ green innovation decision and further evaluates the interaction effect of absorptive capacity with institutional pillars. Using datasets from listed Chinese companies, this study examines the above hypotheses. As a result, we identify the heterogeneous effect of institutional pressures on green technology innovation and green management innovation and find a significant effect of absorptive capacity on the relationship between institutional pressures and green technology innovation. The conclusion of this study enriches the literature on institutional theory and the absorptive capacity perspective and has implications for firms’ green innovation practices.

Social capital and organizational ambidexterity: the moderating effect of absorptive capacity

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of social capital on organizational ambidexterity in the context of emerging economies. Moreover, this paper aims to study the moderating influence of absorptive capacity on the relationship between social capital and organizational ambidexterity.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted two studies using survey data collected from 97 Ecuadorian and 100 Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).FindingsThe authors found that social capital, the extent to which organizational members interact, collaborate and share knowledge with one another and with external actors, has a positive effect on the simultaneous implementation of exploratory and exploitative innovations (i.e. organizational ambidexterity). Moreover, the authors found that absorptive capacity positively strengthens the impact of social capital on organizational ambidexterity.Originality/valueDrawing on the knowledge-based view and the innovation literature, the authors theoretically argue the importance of social capital and absorptive capacity for SMEs to develop and manage exploratory and exploitative innovations simultaneously in emerging economies of different cultures. The authors empirically test proposed hypotheses in Ecuador and China, two emerging markets with important cultural differences, and show the relevance of social capital in multiple settings.

The Effect of Network Structure on Performance in South Korea SMEs: The Moderating Effects of Absorptive Capacity

This study has analyzed how the network structure (density, centrality) affects the performance (convergence, overall) in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) with the different business exchange activities. In addition, we conducted a moderating effect of absorptive capacity (ability, motivation). Based on previous literature about the network and absorptive capacity, research hypotheses were developed and tested using a sample of 226 SMEs in South Korea. The results show that network density and centrality have a positive effect on perceived convergence and overall performance. These results are consistent with previous network studies relating to structural characteristics. To raise total performances in firms with different business exchange activities, they need to enhance density and centrality. For example, firms with different business exchange activities and high levels of density and centrality are able to easily obtain various types of information from other members of 7000 firms in Korea. Through this, they can improve performance. We also conducted the moderated regression analysis. The results show that employee ability has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between centrality and the overall performance while employee motivation has a negative moderating effect. The implications and directions for future study along with limitations are presented.

The positive moderating effect of absorptive capacity on R&D investment: the case of Argentina's ict firms.

The model analyzes the positive moderating role of absorptive capacity (ACAP) in the innovative outcomes of the firms. It focuses on ACAP as a moderating variable of the innovative efforts that firms develop or have the chance of incorporating from outside and not just as an antecedent of the innovation results. The empirical evidence collected comes from a study conducted on 189 SMEs working in IT services in Argentina and the results prove the main hypothesis of how ACAP is a positive moderating factor of the innovative effort of firms, even in the case of the connections created by their the participation in international networks not having a high correlation. Some suggestions for policymaker managers and future lines of research are provided.

A systematic investigation of absorptive capacity and external information search in groups

PurposeThis paper aims to test the influence of external information search (EIS) on knowledge elaboration and group cognitive complexity (GCC) under the moderating effect of absorptive capacity (AC is indicated by prior knowledge base and gender diversity).Design/methodology/approachThe results of three studies (one field study and two experimental studies) are reported. The first study tests the interaction between EIS and the two dimensions of AC on group knowledge elaboration in a sample of 65 organizational groups. In the second study, EIS was directly manipulated and the interaction with AC in a sample of 65 groups was tested. In the last experimental study, the AC of the boundary spanner (highest level of expertise versus lowest level of expertise) was manipulated and the effects of EIS in a sample of 37 groups were tested.FindingsThe first study reveals a significant interaction between EIS and prior knowledge base on knowledge elaboration and points toward a compensatory interplay of EIS and AC on GCC. The results of the second study indicate that EIS increases the time spent on task, as well as the efficiency of knowledge integration (GCC per unit of time). Furthermore, EIS has the strongest positive effect on GCC in groups in which at least one of the AC dimensions is average or high. The results of the last study show that the AC of the boundary spanner compensates for the lack of absorptive capacity of the group and also show that the cognitive distance between the boundary spanner and the rest of the group has a negative influence on the efficiency of knowledge integration in groups.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of Study 1, common to non-experimental research (related to causality), are dealt with in the second and third studies that establish causality between EIS and GCC.Practical implicationsThe paper has important implications for the management of information search effort in organizational groups, in particular the groups are advised to: engage in EIS to increase their cognitive repertoire and cognitive complexity, delegate, when possible, their most competent members to engage in boundary spanning activities as they will maximize the cognitive benefits of EIS and finally minimize the cognitive dissimilarity between the boundary spanner and the rest of the group to facilitate the effective integration of novel insights into the group cognition.Originality/valueThis study is among the first empirical attempts to uncover the causal effect of EIS on knowledge elaboration and GCC in groups and to uncover the role of the boundary spanner in the EIS efforts.

An Empirical Study on Entrepreneurial Orientation, Absorptive Capacity, and SMEs’ Innovation Performance: A Sustainable Perspective

Using a survey of 324 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the Yangtze River Delta in China, this study discusses the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, absorptive capacity, environmental dynamism, and corporate technological innovation performance. The results based on a moderated moderation model show that the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and innovation performance is significantly positive. The absorptive capacity can positively moderate this relationship. When the external environment is in high dynamism, the moderating effect of absorptive capacity will be stronger than when the environment is in low dynamism.

Moderating effect of absorptive capacity on the entrepreneurial orientation of international performance of family businesses

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the moderating effect of absorptive capacity on the entrepreneurial orientation of international performance of family businesses.Design/methodology/approachThe sample for this study was collected from 218 family firms associated with the Family Business Institute (IEF). This paper used a structural equation model through PLS-SEM technique to test the proposed model and for contrasting the moderating effect of absorptive capacity on the entrepreneurial orientation of international performance of family businesses.FindingsThe main result of this work is that international performance of family businesses is determined, to a great extent, by the entrepreneurial orientation. In addition, this effect is reinforced by the absorption capacity, exerting a positive moderating role.Practical implicationsIf family firms want to improve their international results, they must act in the entrepreneurial orientation through the effect of absorption capacities.Originality/valueThe originality of this work comes from the discovery of the new moderating role of absorption capacities in family firms.

Measuring the impact of relational capital on customer performance in the SME B2B sector

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence that different components of relational capital (marketing capability, open innovation with business and scientific partners, technological reputation, brand) have on customer performance (CP). Moreover, the moderating effect of absorptive capacity on such relationships is tested.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the direct relationship between the different components of relational capital and CP is analyzed through a linear regression model. Then, to test the moderating effect, two distinct regression analyses are conducted into two sub-samples, defined according to the level of absorptive capacity. The authors carried out these analyses on a sample of 150 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the medium- and high-tech B2B context.FindingsResults of this study prove that CP is enhanced through firm marketing capability, open innovation with business partners and technological reputation, while brand and open innovation with scientific partner do not have an association with CP. In particular, the impact of marketing capability and open innovation with business actors on CP is greater for firms with higher absorptive capacity.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper, highlighting the relevance of relational capital and absorptive capacity in improving CP, enhances our knowledge about the factors that help to strengthen the relationships with customers, which is an under-investigated issue especially for SMEs competing in B2B industries, and extends our knowledge on open innovation practices.Practical implicationsFindings of this paper suggest that, to achieve better CP, managers should pay special attention to nurturing their marketing capability and high-quality relationships with external actors and invest in absorptive capacity to enhance the positive effect of such linkages.Originality/valueThis work, combining the external perspective of relational capital and the internal organizational dimension of absorptive capacity, provides valuable insights about the knowledge and resource mix that firms might rely on to achieve better customer satisfaction and loyalty.