DESIGNING ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY? AN ANALYSIS OF KNOWLEDGE ABSORPTION PRACTICES IN GERMAN HIGH-TECH FIRMS

The concept of absorptive capacity was introduced by Cohen and Levinthal in 1989 as an important condition for high innovativeness. Since then it has been enhanced through reconceptualisations and extended by various empirical studies. Despite the growing interest in the concept, the processes and practices of absorptive capacity have largely remained a "black box". To fill this gap, the paper develops a practice-based approach of absorptive capacity and provides an in-depth empirical investigation to shed more light on the practice of knowledge absorption. Drawing on the case studies of two German high-tech firms, the paper focusses on practices designed by the management to facilitate knowledge absorption and shows how these practices were actually enacted. The paper contributes to a better understanding of the complex construction of absorptive capacity and gives useful insights for a successful management of knowledge absorption.