Exploring the impact of the level of absorptive capacity in technology development firms

Absorptive capacity (ACAP) is widely recognized as an effective means of obtaining and sustaining a competitive advantage. Although ACAP was globally introduced decades ago, researchers from Central and Eastern Europe have since underestimated its importance. The research objective of this paper is to answer the following questions: how does the level of ACAP influence the performances of technology-driven firms, and how does it catalyse their innovation outputs? Furthermore, we argue that exporting technology-driven firms possess even higher levels of ACAP than those who are weak or not-at-all exporters. ACAP measured value is examined alongside the innovation outputs of firms and their business performance, with an extended focus on exporters. A selected population of >600 Croatian firms were asked to fill in the questionnaire. Out of the 103 firms that completed the survey, 45 were recognized as intensive technology development performers, and 34 were identified as large exporters. Both populations were tested against formulated hypotheses, ultimately proving that higher levels of ACAP can be seen to positively drive innovation performance which, notably, can be seen most clearly with exporters.