https://www.mdu.se/

While extant literature conceptually recognizes individuals as an integral part of the process with which organizations absorb new knowledge, past research has paid limited attention to the antecedents of individual -level absorptive capacity. In this paper, we address this research gap. We build on the interactionist perspective and propose that individual -level absorptive capacity is shaped by the joint effects of individual employees' dispositions (i.e., need for cognition and proactive personality) and their work context (i.e., time pressure and autonomy). Significantly, we also recognize the multidimensional nature of absorptive capacity, which suggests that individuals need different capabilities to learn and utilize new knowledge in their organizations. We test our predictions using a unique dataset from 646 employees working on knowledge -intensive tasks. Our results show that the joint effects of dispositional and contextual antecedents are not uniform across different dimensions of individual -level absorptive capacity.

Absorptive capacity has received considerable scholarly attention due to its ability to explain heterogeneous degrees of learning from complex and dynamic knowledge environments. Extant absorptive capacity frameworks and models unmistakably take firms as the focal unit and level of analysis. Mounting empirical evidence, in contrast, shows the growing importance of teams in acquiring and utilizing external knowledge. Teams are not just scale models of firms; they have unique attributes and function as an active context of organizational learning. However, previous research does not consider such idiosyncrasies when conceptualizing absorptive capacity. We focus on absorptive capacity within the meso-level context of teams and problematize several entrenched assumptions behind existing models. We then propose a re-conceptualization of absorptive capacity with four new dimensions that collectively address these assumptions and pay systematic attention to the distinctive characteristics of teams as active learning contexts. 

Overview: To maximize the rent-yield of the innovation and product development process, firms attempt to commercialize knowledge through activities that require effective knowledge transfer. Knowledge transfer remains a challenge for most firms, however, due to the recipient organization’s lack of ability to absorb and apply new knowledge. We examined four knowledge-transfer projects within a large multinational corporation. We identified important actions, lessons learned, and recommendations that practitioners can use to enhance their own knowledge-transfer processes. 

International diversification is a fundamental pillar of multinational corporations' (MNCs) growth strategies. Consequently, there is a considerable body of research on the performance implications of MNCs' international diversification strategies. We extend this literature by adopting a relational view where we compare the diversification profiles of firms in an inter-organizational context. We argue that the relative characteristics of firms' and their partners' diversification profiles is an indicator of parties' resource bases and thereby can explain if and when inter-organizational ties yield optimum performance outcomes. We examine these relative characteristics and propose a conceptual refinement by differentiating between the degree and content dimensions of international diversification. Analyzing data from 202 manufacturing firms from the S&P 500 list, we find that firms achieve optimum performance when their partners have moderately higher degrees of international diversification and a moderate overlap of presence in foreign markets.

Research Summary This paper examines an understudied aspect of network relationships-that is, direction of relational ties. Tie direction is important since it can shape when and how firms can benefit from the international experience of other firms. We focus on a specific type of network relationship-that is, interlocking directorates, which provides a clinical context to study directionality. We show that, due to their higher familiarity, identification, and executive power, focal firm directors serving in other firms' boards (i.e., outgoing ties) are more beneficial for utilizing partners' international experience. However, outside directors sitting on the boards of focal firms (i.e., incoming ties) can bring more useful first-hand experience and facilitate international expansion once these ties get stronger. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. Managerial Summary As they grow internationally, firms need to manage risks and uncertainties of doing business abroad. In this regard, they can potentially benefit from the international experience of other firms in their network. We show how firms can realize these benefits by means of interlocking ties (i.e., shared board memberships). To that end, we examine the directionality of interlocking ties. Specifically, we argue that a firm's ability to utilize partners' experience for its own international expansion is greater when its directors sit on the boards of other firms (so-called outgoing ties) compared to when other firms' directors sit on its own board (so-called incoming ties). However, experience coming through incoming ties is more effective for a firm's international expansion once these ties get stronger.

Although received research emphasizes direct experiential knowledge as a key driver of firms’ internationalization, the role of indirect experience has been increasingly recognized in recent studies. In this paper, we extend these studies by examining the role of source and context of experiential knowledge in relation to firms’ internationalization into specific host markets, and offer a fine-grained analysis of when and how indirect experience complement or substitute direct experience. We test our hypotheses with data from 1,478 Swedish SMEs. Our results reveal that a firm can address its knowledge gaps and increase its extent of internationalization into a host market by combining direct and indirect experience, especially when they yield different types of knowledge needed for internationalization. We further show that direct and indirect experience derived from comparable contexts could substitute for each other but may also create knowledge redundancies. 

The aim of this paper is to shed light on the concept of strategic consensus and its development connected to digital transformation for firm internationalization. Based on one in-depth case study we show that strategic consensus develops over time among top managers. Once strategic consensus has been achieved among the top management team (TMT), the work to implement the strategic consensus among the other organization members remains. This paper sheds light on the importance of resource-commitment in achieving strategic consensus, especially connected to digital transformation and internationalization. Resource-commitment is necessary to convince and motivate organizational members to partake in digital transformation processes, which often will have strong implications for the continued internationalization of firms.