Knowledge Acquisition, Absorptive Capacity, and Innovation Capability: An Empirical Study of Taiwan's Knowledge-Intensive Industries

Authors: Shu-Hsien. Liao, Chi-Chuan. Wu, Da-Chian. Hu, Guang An. Tsuei

Abstract:

This study investigates the roles of knowledge acquisition, absorptive capacity, and innovation capability in finance and manufacturing industries. With 362 valid questionnaires from manufactures and financial industries in Taiwan, we examine the relationships between absorptive capacity, knowledge acquisition and innovation capability using a structural equation model. The results indicate that absorptive capacity is the mediator between knowledge acquisition and innovation capability, and that knowledge acquisition has a positive effect on absorptive capacity.

Keywords: Absorptive capacity, knowledge acquisition, innovation capability.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1330903

References:

[1] P. Drucker, and P. Ferdinand, Post-capitalist society: Butterworth-Heinemann Oxford, 1993.
[2] L. Kim, "Crisis construction and organizational learning," ORGANIZATION SCIENCE, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 506-521, 1998.
[3] D. De Long, "Building the Knowledge-Based Organization: How Culture Drives Knowledge Behaviors," Center for Business Innovation, Ernst & Young, May, 1997.
[4] D. Leonard-Barton, Wellsprings of Knowledge: Building and Sustaining the Sources of Innovation: Harvard Business School Press, 1995.
[5] J. Yang, M. Rui, and J. Wang, "Enhancing the firm's innovation capability through knowledge management: A study of high technology firms in China," International Journal of Technology Management, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 305-317, 2006.
[6] A. Gold, "Knowledge Management: An Organizational Capabilities Perspective," Journal of Management Information Systems, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 185-214, 2001.
[7] A. Jantunen, "Knowledge-processing capabilities and innovative performance: an empirical study," European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 336, 2005.
[8] S. Zahra, and G. George, "Absorptive Capacity: A Review, Reconceptualization, and Extension," Academy of Management Review, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 185-203, 2002.
[9] D. Levinthal, "Absorptive Capacity: A New Perspective on Learning and Innovation Wesley M. Cohen," Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 35, pp. 128-152, 1990.
[10] G. Colin, "Absorptive capacity, knowledge management and innovation in entrepreneurial small firms," International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, vol. 12, no. 6, pp. 345-360, 2006.
[11] A. Boynton, R. Zmud, and G. Jacobs, "The Influence of IT Management Practice on IT Use in Large Organizations," Management Information Systems Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 14, 1994.
[12] W. Keller, S. S. R. Institute, and U. o. Wisconsin--Madison, Absorptive Capacity: On the Creation and Acquisition of Technology in Development: Social Systems Research Institute, University of Wisconsin, 1996.
[13] M. Lenox, and A. King, "Prospects for developing absorptive capacity through internal information provision," Strategic Management Journal, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 331-345, 2004.
[14] M. Nieto, and P. Quevedo, "Absorptive capacity, technological opportunity, knowledge spillovers, and innovative effort," Technovation, vol. 25, no. 10, pp. 1141-1157, 2005.
[15] D. Mowery, J. Oxley, and B. Silverman, "Strategic alliances and interfirm knowledge transfer," Strategic Management Journal, vol. 17, no. WINTER, pp. 77-91, 1996.
[16] R. Veugelers, "Internal R & D expenditures and external technology sourcing," Research Policy, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 303-315, 1997.
[17] X. Liu, and R. White, "The relative contributions of foreign technology and domestic inputs to innovation in Chinese manufacturing industries," Technovation, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 119-125, 1997.
[18] I. Cockburn, and R. Henderson, "Absorptive Capacity, Coauthoring Behavior, and the Organization of Research in Drug Discovery," Journal of Industrial Economics, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 157-182, 1998.
[19] C. Nicholls-Nixon, "Absorptive capacity and technological sourcing: implications for the responsiveness of established firms," Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Purdue University, 1993.
[20] G. Stock, N. Greis, and W. Fischer, "Absorptive capacity and new product development," Journal of High Technology Management Research, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 77-91, 2001.
[21] A. Petroni, and B. Panciroli, "Innovation as a determinant of suppliers- roles and performances: an empirical study in the food machinery industry," European Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 135-149, 2002.
[22] S.-h. Liao, W.-C. Fei, and C.-C. Chen, "Knowledge sharing, absorptive capacity, and innovation capability: an empirical study of Taiwan's knowledge-intensive industries," Journal of Information Science, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 340-359, June 1, 2007, 2007.
[23] A. Afuah, Innovation Management: Strategies, Implementation, and Profits: Oxford University Press, 1998.
[24] H. Li, and K. Atuahene-Gima, "The adoption of agency business activity, product innovation, and performance in Chinese technology ventures," Strategic Management Journal, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 469-490, 2002.
[25] P. Adler, and A. Shenhar, "Adapting your technological base: The organizational challenge," Sloan Management Review, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 25-37, 1990.
[26] P.-A. Julien, E. Andriambeloson, and C. Ramangalahy, "Networks, weak signals and technological innovations among SMEs in the land-based transportation equipment sector," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 251 - 269, 2004.
[27] F. Van Den Bosch, H. Volberda, and M. de Boer, "Coevolution of Firm Absorptive Capactiy and Knowledge Environment: Organizational Forms and Combinative Capabilities," Organization Science, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 551-568, 1999.
[28] J. Darroch, and R. McNaughton, "Beyond market orientation," European Journal of Marketing, vol. 37, no. 3/4, pp. 572-593, 2003.
[29] L. Cronbach, "Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests," Psychometrika, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 297-334, 1951.
[30] R. Bagozzi, and Y. Yi, "On the evaluation of structural equation models," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 74-94, 1988.
[31] J. Anderson, and D. Gerbing, "Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach," Psychological Bulletin, vol. 103, no. 3, pp. 411-423, 1988.
[32] K. Joreskog, "Simultaneous factor analysis in several populations," Psychometrika, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 409-426, 1971.
[33] R. Bagozzi, and L. Phillips, "Representing and Testing Organizational Theories: A Holistic Construal," Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 459-89, 1982.
[34] L. Ding, W. Velicer, and L. Harlow, "Effects of estimation methods, number of indicators per factor, and improper solutions on structural equation modeling fit indices," Structural Equation Modeling, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 119-143, 1995.
[35] C. Chin-Loy, "Assessing the influence of organizational culture on knowledge management success," Nova Southeastern University United States, 2003.