Conditions for the Development of Researchers' Absorptive Capacity
Article Sidebar
Published:
Nov 19, 2019
Keywords:
Science, Academic staff, Employee skills, Innovative behaviours, Employees competencies, Scientific research
Main Article Content
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to discuss factors that may influence researchers' absorptive capacity. A review of literature indicates that traditional role of universities, limited to education and undertaking research activities focused primarily on the development of scientific theories, has evolved towards the requirement of innovation and active search for opportunities to commercialize research results. Among many factors determining the innovativeness of researchers and their ability to commercially exploit research results, the importance of researchers' absorptive capacity (ACAP) has been increasingly stressed. Understanding of ACAP at the individual level has been limited so far, as most of the research focus on the organizational level. Having examined the literature on both ACAP and the specificity of researcher's job and organizations that employ them, we propose a research model and formulate hypotheses about individual, organizational and institutional determinants of researchers' ACAP. We propose to consider the construct of researcher's ACAP as a complex phenomenon that refers to individual competencies (research knowledge, capabilities, innovative research performance), capability to accelerate the absorption process, and personal traits. We claim that the low level of individual researchers' absorptive capacity interferes with innovativeness of research outcomes and that it can be enhanced through development of competencies, capabilities and traits, that are characteristic for innovators of spinoffs or start-up businesses and managers of SMEs.
Article Details
How to Cite
Austen, A., & Rutkowska, M. (2019). Conditions for the Development of Researchers’ Absorptive Capacity. Organization and Management, (1(184), 9–21. Retrieved from https://econjournals.sgh.waw.pl/OiK/article/view/1094
Section
Artykuły
References
1. Ahuja G., Katila R., Technological acquisitions and the innovation performance of acquiring firms: a longitudinal study, "Strategic Management Journal" 2001, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 197-220.
2. Baker W. E., Sinkula J. M., The synergistic effect of market orientation and learning orientation on organizational performance, "Academy of Marketing Science Journal" 1999, Vol. 27, p. 411.
3. Baron R. A., Opportunity recognition as pattern recognition: how entrepreneurs "connect the dots" to identify new business opportunities, "The Academy of Management Perspectives" 2006, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 104-119.
4. Christensen K. W., Jansen D. G., Correlates of research productivity for industrial education faculty, "Journal of Industrial Teacher Education" 1992, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 23-40.
5. Cohen W. M., Levinthal D. A., Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation, "Administrative Science Quarterly" 1990, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 128-152.
6. Cross R., Cummings J. N., Tie and network correlates of individual performance in knowledge-intensive work, "Academy of Management Journal" 2004, Vol. 47, No. 6, pp. 928-937.
7. Davis A.R., Da Silva N., Absorptive capacity at the individual level: linking creativity to innovation in academia, "The Review of Higher Education" 2011, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 355-379.
8. D'Este P., Patel P., University-industry linkages in the UK: What are the factors underlying the variety of interactions with industry? "Research Policy" 2007, Vol. 36, No. 9, pp. 1295-1313.
9. Dyer J. H., Singh H., The relational view: cooperative strategy and sources of interorganizational competitive advantage, "Academy of Management Review" 1998, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 660-679.
10. Fakhrorazi A., Osman M., Hazril I., Absorptive capacity and innovative behavior among engineers in Malaysia, "Management Arts" 2013, Vol. 56, pp. 13496-13504.
11. Fosfuri A., Tribo J. A., Exploring the antecedents of potential absorptive capacity and its impact on innovation performance, "Omega" 2008, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 173-187.
12. Foss N. J., Husted K., Michailova S., Governing knowledge sharing in organizations: levels of analysis, governance mechanisms, and research directions, "Journal of Management Studies" 2010, Vol. 47, No. 3, pp. 455-482.
13. Fullan M. G., The meaning of educational change, in: Fullan M. G. (ed.), The new meaning of educational change, Teachers College Press, New York 1991, pp. 30-46.
14. Helfat C. E., Know-how and asset complementarity and dynamic capability accumulation: the case of R&D, "Strategic Management Journal" 1997, Vol. 18, No. 5, pp. 339-360.
15. Ito J., Howe J., Whiplash: How to survive our faster future, Grand Central Publishing, New York 2016.
16. Jansen J. J. P., Van den Bosch F. A. J., Volbreda H. W., Managing potential and realized absorptive capacity: How do organizational antecedents matter? "The Academy of Management Journal" 2005, Vol. 48, No. 6, pp. 999-1015.
17. Jiménez-Jiménez D., Sanz-Valle R., Innovation, organizational learning, and performance, "Journal of Business Research" 2011, Vol. 64, No. 4, pp. 408-417.
18. Juanola-Feliu E., Colomer-Farrarons J., Miribel-Catala P., Samitier J., Valls-Pasola J., Market challenges facing academic research in commercializing nano-enabled implantable devices for in-vivo biomedical analysis, "Technovation" 2012, Vol. 32, pp. 193-204.
19. Jucevičius R., Juknevičienė V., Mikolaitytė J., Šaparnienė D., Assessing the regional innovation system's absorptive capacity: the approach of a smart region in a small country, "Systems" 2017, Vol. 5, No. 2, p. 27.
20. Juknevičienė V., Bersėnaitė J., Empowerment of innovativeness for regional development: the case of Šiauliai region, "Research for Rural Development. International Scientific Conference Proceedings (Latvia)" 2016, No. 2, pp. 158-165.
21. Kelli A., Jonsson L., Mets T., Pisuke H., The changing approach in academia-industry collaboration: from profit orientation to innovation support in Trames, "Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences" 2013, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 215-241.
22. Kim D. J., Kogut B., Technological platforms and diversification, "Organization Science" 1996, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 283-301.
23. Koka B. R., Prescott J. E., Strategic alliances as social capital: a multidimensional view, "Strategic Management Journal" 2002, Vol. 23, No. 9, pp. 795-816.
24. Koza M. P., Lewin A. Y., The co-evolution of strategic alliances, "Organization Science" 1998, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 255-264.
25. Lane P. J., Koka B. R., Pathak S., The reification of absorptive capacity: a critical review and rejuvenation of the construct, "Academy of Management Review" 2006, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 833-863.
26. Lane P. J., Lubatkin M., Relative absorptive capacity and interorganizational learning, "Strategic Management Journal" 1998, Vol. 19, No. 5, pp. 461-477.
27. Lenart R., Absorptive capacity of schools, in: Nalepka A., Ujwary-Gil A. (eds.), Business and non-profit organizations facing increased competition and growing customers' demands, Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu - National-Louis University, Nowy Sącz 2012, pp. 97-109.
28. Lerner J., The university and the start-up: lessons from the past two decades, "Journal of Technology Transfer" 2005, Vol. 30, No. 1-2, pp. 49-56.
29. Lowik S., Kraaijenbrink J., Groen A. J., Antecedents and effects of individual absorptive capacity: a micro-foundational perspective on open innovation, "Journal of Knowledge Management" 2017, Vol. 21, No. 6, pp. 1319-1341.
30. Mahroum S., Alsaleh Y., Measuring innovation efficacy: an operational framework for mapping and measuring innovation capacity and performance of countries, Faculty & Research Working Paper, INSEAD, Abu Dhabi 2012.
31. Mahroum S., Huggins R., Clayton N., Pain K., Taylor P., Innovation by adoption. Measuring and mapping absorptive capacity in UK nations and regions, Research Report, NESTA, 2008, ISBN 978-1-84875-029-6.
32. McAfee A., Brynjolfsson E.,Machine, platform, crowd: harnessing our digital future, W. W. Norton and Company, New York 2017.
33. Narula R., Understanding absorptive capacity in an 'innovation system' context: consequences for economic and employment growth, "DRUID Working Paper" 2004, No. 04-02, Danish Research Unit for Industrial Dynamics, ISBN 87-7873-152-6.
34. Oke A., The influence of leadership on innovation processes and activities, "Organizational Dynamics" 2009, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 64-72.
35. Paliokaitė A., González Verdesoto E., RIO country report 2016: Lithuania 2016, Research and Innovation Observatory Country Reports Series, JRC Science for Policy Report, European Commission, Luxembourg 2017.
36. Reagans R., Zuckerman E. W., Networks, diversity, and productivity: the social capital of corporate R&D teams, "Organization Science" 2001, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 502-517.
37. Rosinaitė V., Lietuvos aukštųjų mokyklų studentų kompetencijos: subjektyvus jų įsisavinimo lygio ir ugdymo poreikio įvertinimas, "Filosofija, Sociologija" 2008, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 62-71.
38. Satell G., How innovative companies get their best ideas from academic research, Innovation Excellence, 2016, http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2016/10/06 (20.11.2018).
39. Simonin B. L., Transfer of marketing know-how in international strategic alliances: an empirical investigation of the role and antecedents of knowledge ambiguity, "Journal of International Business Studies" 1999, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 463-490.
40. Sinkula J. M., Baker W. E., Noordewier T., A framework for market-based organizational learning: linking values, knowledge, and behavior, "Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science" 1997, Vol. 25, No. 4, pp. 305-318.
41. Stuart T. E., Network positions and propensities to collaborate: an investigation of strategic alliance formation in a high-technology industry, "Administrative Science Quarterly" 1998, Vol. 43, pp. 668-698.
42. Tian A. W., Soo Ch., Enriching individual absorptive capacity, "Personnel Review" 2018, Vol. 47, No. 5, pp. 1116-1132.
43. Todorova G., Durisin B., Absorptive capacity: valuing a reconceptualization, "Academy of Management Review" 2007, Vol.32, No. 3, pp. 774-786.
44. Van de Ven A. H., Central problems in the management of innovation, "Management Science" 1986, Vol 3, No. 5, pp. 590-607.
45. Van Den Bosch F. A., Volberda H. W., De Boer M., Coevolution of firm absorptive capacity and knowledge environment: organizational forms and combinative capabilities, "Organization Science" 1999, Vol. 10, No. 5, pp. 551-568.
46. Veugelers R., The contribution of academic research to innovation and growth, "WWW for Europe Working Paper" 2014, No. 71, http://www.foreurope.eu/fileadmin/documents/ pdf/Workingpapers/WWWforEurope_WPS_no071_MS65.pdf (10.11.2018).
47. Volberda H. W., Foss N. J., Lyles M. A., Perspective - absorbing the concept of absorptive capacity: how to realize its potential in the organization field, "Organization Science" 2010, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 931-951.
48. Zahra S. A., George G., Absorptive capacity: a review, reconceptualization, and extension, "Academy of Management Review" 2002, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 185-203.
2. Baker W. E., Sinkula J. M., The synergistic effect of market orientation and learning orientation on organizational performance, "Academy of Marketing Science Journal" 1999, Vol. 27, p. 411.
3. Baron R. A., Opportunity recognition as pattern recognition: how entrepreneurs "connect the dots" to identify new business opportunities, "The Academy of Management Perspectives" 2006, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 104-119.
4. Christensen K. W., Jansen D. G., Correlates of research productivity for industrial education faculty, "Journal of Industrial Teacher Education" 1992, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 23-40.
5. Cohen W. M., Levinthal D. A., Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation, "Administrative Science Quarterly" 1990, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 128-152.
6. Cross R., Cummings J. N., Tie and network correlates of individual performance in knowledge-intensive work, "Academy of Management Journal" 2004, Vol. 47, No. 6, pp. 928-937.
7. Davis A.R., Da Silva N., Absorptive capacity at the individual level: linking creativity to innovation in academia, "The Review of Higher Education" 2011, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 355-379.
8. D'Este P., Patel P., University-industry linkages in the UK: What are the factors underlying the variety of interactions with industry? "Research Policy" 2007, Vol. 36, No. 9, pp. 1295-1313.
9. Dyer J. H., Singh H., The relational view: cooperative strategy and sources of interorganizational competitive advantage, "Academy of Management Review" 1998, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 660-679.
10. Fakhrorazi A., Osman M., Hazril I., Absorptive capacity and innovative behavior among engineers in Malaysia, "Management Arts" 2013, Vol. 56, pp. 13496-13504.
11. Fosfuri A., Tribo J. A., Exploring the antecedents of potential absorptive capacity and its impact on innovation performance, "Omega" 2008, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 173-187.
12. Foss N. J., Husted K., Michailova S., Governing knowledge sharing in organizations: levels of analysis, governance mechanisms, and research directions, "Journal of Management Studies" 2010, Vol. 47, No. 3, pp. 455-482.
13. Fullan M. G., The meaning of educational change, in: Fullan M. G. (ed.), The new meaning of educational change, Teachers College Press, New York 1991, pp. 30-46.
14. Helfat C. E., Know-how and asset complementarity and dynamic capability accumulation: the case of R&D, "Strategic Management Journal" 1997, Vol. 18, No. 5, pp. 339-360.
15. Ito J., Howe J., Whiplash: How to survive our faster future, Grand Central Publishing, New York 2016.
16. Jansen J. J. P., Van den Bosch F. A. J., Volbreda H. W., Managing potential and realized absorptive capacity: How do organizational antecedents matter? "The Academy of Management Journal" 2005, Vol. 48, No. 6, pp. 999-1015.
17. Jiménez-Jiménez D., Sanz-Valle R., Innovation, organizational learning, and performance, "Journal of Business Research" 2011, Vol. 64, No. 4, pp. 408-417.
18. Juanola-Feliu E., Colomer-Farrarons J., Miribel-Catala P., Samitier J., Valls-Pasola J., Market challenges facing academic research in commercializing nano-enabled implantable devices for in-vivo biomedical analysis, "Technovation" 2012, Vol. 32, pp. 193-204.
19. Jucevičius R., Juknevičienė V., Mikolaitytė J., Šaparnienė D., Assessing the regional innovation system's absorptive capacity: the approach of a smart region in a small country, "Systems" 2017, Vol. 5, No. 2, p. 27.
20. Juknevičienė V., Bersėnaitė J., Empowerment of innovativeness for regional development: the case of Šiauliai region, "Research for Rural Development. International Scientific Conference Proceedings (Latvia)" 2016, No. 2, pp. 158-165.
21. Kelli A., Jonsson L., Mets T., Pisuke H., The changing approach in academia-industry collaboration: from profit orientation to innovation support in Trames, "Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences" 2013, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 215-241.
22. Kim D. J., Kogut B., Technological platforms and diversification, "Organization Science" 1996, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 283-301.
23. Koka B. R., Prescott J. E., Strategic alliances as social capital: a multidimensional view, "Strategic Management Journal" 2002, Vol. 23, No. 9, pp. 795-816.
24. Koza M. P., Lewin A. Y., The co-evolution of strategic alliances, "Organization Science" 1998, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 255-264.
25. Lane P. J., Koka B. R., Pathak S., The reification of absorptive capacity: a critical review and rejuvenation of the construct, "Academy of Management Review" 2006, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 833-863.
26. Lane P. J., Lubatkin M., Relative absorptive capacity and interorganizational learning, "Strategic Management Journal" 1998, Vol. 19, No. 5, pp. 461-477.
27. Lenart R., Absorptive capacity of schools, in: Nalepka A., Ujwary-Gil A. (eds.), Business and non-profit organizations facing increased competition and growing customers' demands, Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu - National-Louis University, Nowy Sącz 2012, pp. 97-109.
28. Lerner J., The university and the start-up: lessons from the past two decades, "Journal of Technology Transfer" 2005, Vol. 30, No. 1-2, pp. 49-56.
29. Lowik S., Kraaijenbrink J., Groen A. J., Antecedents and effects of individual absorptive capacity: a micro-foundational perspective on open innovation, "Journal of Knowledge Management" 2017, Vol. 21, No. 6, pp. 1319-1341.
30. Mahroum S., Alsaleh Y., Measuring innovation efficacy: an operational framework for mapping and measuring innovation capacity and performance of countries, Faculty & Research Working Paper, INSEAD, Abu Dhabi 2012.
31. Mahroum S., Huggins R., Clayton N., Pain K., Taylor P., Innovation by adoption. Measuring and mapping absorptive capacity in UK nations and regions, Research Report, NESTA, 2008, ISBN 978-1-84875-029-6.
32. McAfee A., Brynjolfsson E.,Machine, platform, crowd: harnessing our digital future, W. W. Norton and Company, New York 2017.
33. Narula R., Understanding absorptive capacity in an 'innovation system' context: consequences for economic and employment growth, "DRUID Working Paper" 2004, No. 04-02, Danish Research Unit for Industrial Dynamics, ISBN 87-7873-152-6.
34. Oke A., The influence of leadership on innovation processes and activities, "Organizational Dynamics" 2009, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 64-72.
35. Paliokaitė A., González Verdesoto E., RIO country report 2016: Lithuania 2016, Research and Innovation Observatory Country Reports Series, JRC Science for Policy Report, European Commission, Luxembourg 2017.
36. Reagans R., Zuckerman E. W., Networks, diversity, and productivity: the social capital of corporate R&D teams, "Organization Science" 2001, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 502-517.
37. Rosinaitė V., Lietuvos aukštųjų mokyklų studentų kompetencijos: subjektyvus jų įsisavinimo lygio ir ugdymo poreikio įvertinimas, "Filosofija, Sociologija" 2008, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 62-71.
38. Satell G., How innovative companies get their best ideas from academic research, Innovation Excellence, 2016, http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2016/10/06 (20.11.2018).
39. Simonin B. L., Transfer of marketing know-how in international strategic alliances: an empirical investigation of the role and antecedents of knowledge ambiguity, "Journal of International Business Studies" 1999, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 463-490.
40. Sinkula J. M., Baker W. E., Noordewier T., A framework for market-based organizational learning: linking values, knowledge, and behavior, "Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science" 1997, Vol. 25, No. 4, pp. 305-318.
41. Stuart T. E., Network positions and propensities to collaborate: an investigation of strategic alliance formation in a high-technology industry, "Administrative Science Quarterly" 1998, Vol. 43, pp. 668-698.
42. Tian A. W., Soo Ch., Enriching individual absorptive capacity, "Personnel Review" 2018, Vol. 47, No. 5, pp. 1116-1132.
43. Todorova G., Durisin B., Absorptive capacity: valuing a reconceptualization, "Academy of Management Review" 2007, Vol.32, No. 3, pp. 774-786.
44. Van de Ven A. H., Central problems in the management of innovation, "Management Science" 1986, Vol 3, No. 5, pp. 590-607.
45. Van Den Bosch F. A., Volberda H. W., De Boer M., Coevolution of firm absorptive capacity and knowledge environment: organizational forms and combinative capabilities, "Organization Science" 1999, Vol. 10, No. 5, pp. 551-568.
46. Veugelers R., The contribution of academic research to innovation and growth, "WWW for Europe Working Paper" 2014, No. 71, http://www.foreurope.eu/fileadmin/documents/ pdf/Workingpapers/WWWforEurope_WPS_no071_MS65.pdf (10.11.2018).
47. Volberda H. W., Foss N. J., Lyles M. A., Perspective - absorbing the concept of absorptive capacity: how to realize its potential in the organization field, "Organization Science" 2010, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 931-951.
48. Zahra S. A., George G., Absorptive capacity: a review, reconceptualization, and extension, "Academy of Management Review" 2002, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 185-203.