Absorbing the Concept of Absorptive Capacity

By Henk W. Volberda, N. J. Foss, Marjorie A. Lyles. 2009

1,097 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The purpose of this Perspective Paper is to advance understanding of absorptive capacity, its underlying dimensions, its multi-level antecedents, its impact on firm performance and the contextual factors that affect absorptive capacity. Nineteen years after the Cohen and Levinthal 1990 paper, the field is characterized by a wide array of theoretical perspectives and a wealth of empirical evidence. In this paper, we first review these underlying theories and empirical studies of absorptive capacity. Given the size and diversity of the absorptive capacity literature, we subsequently map the existing terrain of research through a bibliometric analysis. The resulting bibliometric cartography shows the major discrepancies in the organization field, namely that (1) most attention so far has been focused on the tangible outcomes of absorptive capacity; (2) organizational design and individual level antecedents have been relatively neglected in the absorptive capacity literature; and (3) the emergence of absorptive capacity from the actions and interactions of individual, organizational and inter-organizational antecedents remains unclear. Building on the bibliometric analysis, we develop an integrative model that identifies the multi-level antecedents, process dimensions, and outcomes of absorptive capacity as well as the contextual factors that affect absorptive capacity. We argue that realizing the potential of the absorptive capacity concept requires more research that shows how “micro antecedents” and “macro- antecedents” influence future outcomes such as competitive advantage, innovation, and firm performance. In particular, we identify conceptual gaps that may guide future research to fully exploit the absorptive capacity concept in the organization field and to explore future fruitful extensions of the concept.

Subfields: Management of Technology and Innovation, Strategy and Management

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f1cdc50b0b714f8943e6b61217b54ba0886efef3

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In Management of Technology and Innovation

In Strategy and Management

Citations in the corpus

The impact of sustainable tourism indicators on destination competitiveness: the European Tourism Indicator System (2021, background): “A more nuanced understanding of the complex mechanisms that allow and impede DMOs to progress in the four stages of ACAP would allow policy makers to fine tune programmes to promote behaviour change (Volberda et al., 2010).”
The relationship between knowledge search strategies and absorptive capacity: A deeper look (2016, background): “Volberda et al. (2010) study not only the process but also the antecedents, outcomes, moderators, and mediators of AC.”
Bibliometric Methods in Management and Organization (2015, positive): “For instance, Volberda, Foss, & Lyles (2010) used bibliometric methods to investigate contextual factors that affect absorptive capacity and develop an integrative model that identifies the multilevel antecedents, process dimensions, and outcomes of absorptive capacity.”
Linking Customer Interaction and Innovation: The Mediating Role of New Organizational Practices (2011, background): “Most of the subsequent research on absorptive capacity focuses on knowledge-related antecedents to absorptive capacity (e.g., R&D investments), and very little examines how absorptive capacity relates to organizational practices (but see Jansen et al. 2005, Volberda et al. 2010).”
Ambidexterity and organizational learning: revisiting and reconnecting the literatures (2019, background): “The theories of inter-organizational learning (Lane and Lubatkin, 1998; Larsson et al., 1998; Jones and MacPherson, 2006) and absorptive capacity (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990; Zahra and George, 2002; Volberda et al., 2010) play a vital role in this synthesis.”
Offshoring and backshoring: A multiple case study analysis (2017, background): “…x Slepniov et al. (2013) x x Steinle and Schiele (2008) x Swamidass (1993) x Szász and Demeter (2014) x Temouri et al. (2010) x x Trent and x Monczka (2003) Volberda et al. (2010) x Wang et al. (2011) x x Host country supply base Host country trade environment (including legislation) Imitation…”