The Social Underpinnings of Absorptive Capacity: External Knowledge, Social Networks, and Individual Innovativeness

Abstract

Starting from the assumption that innovations emerge from a combination of different types of knowledge and are the result of collective efforts, this dissertation examines the social process through which knowledge obtained from outside an organization is used to create innovations with commercial potential. A theoretical model is developed to explain the difference between various individual contributions to organizational innovativeness.

The study uses sociometric data obtained from 276 scientists and researchers from 16 R&D labs of a multinational semiconductor producer. The findings show that not all types of external knowledge are equally important to promote individual innovativeness. However, the study finds that knowledge acquired from outside an organization boosts individual contributions to organizational innovativeness. Distinctions are made between social structure and knowledge structure, as well as local and global information advantages.

The findings point to the positive association of local-non-redundancy with innovativeness. However, they also suggest that global non-redundancy, unlike local non-redundancy, has a stronger impact in promoting individual innovativeness. The study's limitations are acknowledged, and directions for future research are proposed.

Keywords: Innovation process, Knowledge management, Social networks, Adoption of ideas, Information transfer, R&D, Manufacturing industries