– The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among organizational learning, absorptive capacity, imitation and innovation in the Chinese context.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among organizational learning, absorptive capacity, imitation and innovation in the Chinese context.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the organizational learning theory and innovation theory, the paper presents a framework linking organizational learning, absorptive capacity, imitation and innovation. Using a key informant technique, a survey questionnaire was designed and sent to the middle or top management managers of 115 firms located in Peking, People’s Republic (PR) of China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) with the maximum likelihood (ML) estimation procedures was applied to test the hypotheses developed in the research.
Findings
The empirical results show that both organizational learning and absorptive capacity have positive impacts on innovation; imitation has a positive impact on absorptive capacity; absorptive capacity mediates the relationship between imitation and innovation.
Practical implications
This study has implications for firms aiming to enhance innovation by organizational learning, absorptive capacity and imitation.
Originality/value
Despite the number of studies concerning organizational learning, absorptive capacity, imitation and innovation, research that encompasses the interrelationships between the four concepts simultaneously remains scarce. The paper provides a framework linking organizational learning, imitation, absorptive capacity and innovation, and it advances the argument that absorptive capacity is an important factor in predicting the Chinese firms’ transition from imitation to innovation.
Details
Keywords
Shuliang Zhao, Yanhong Jiang, Xiaobao Peng and Jin Hong
Because the mechanism of how knowledge sharing affects organizational innovation is still unclear, the study focuses on the relationship between knowledge sharing and…
Abstract
Purpose
Because the mechanism of how knowledge sharing affects organizational innovation is still unclear, the study focuses on the relationship between knowledge sharing and organizational innovation performance, with a focus on mediating role of absorptive capacity and individual creativity.
Design/methodology/approach
On the basis of the knowledge base view and organizational learning theory, the study propose a model to verify the impact of inbound and outbound knowledge sharing on organizational innovation performance based on previous research. It also analyzed how these effects were mediated by individual creativity and absorptive capacity. The study collected 166 samples to verify the theoretical model.
Findings
Results corroborate that inbound knowledge sharing cannot directly promote organizational innovation performance, and absorptive capacity has a full mediation effect between inbound knowledge sharing and organizational innovation performance. Knowledge outbound sharing, individual creativity and absorptive capacity can improve innovation performance. In addition, absorptive capacity and individual creativity have direct and significant impacts on organizational innovation performance. Moreover, absorptive capacity plays a partial mediate role between individual creativity and innovation performance. Finally, this study discusses the policy implications of the study and describes possible future research directions.
Originality/value
The paper creatively divides knowledge sharing into inbound knowledge sharing and outbound knowledge sharing and verifies that knowledge sharing does not directly affect organizational innovation performance. The mediating role of absorptive capacity and individual creativity was analysis.