IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i11p3034-d235229.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Combined Influence of Absorptive Capacity and Corporate Entrepreneurship on Performance

Author

Listed:
  • M.ª Magdalena Jiménez-Barrionuevo

    (Department of Management, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain)

  • Luis M. Molina

    (Department of Management, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain)

  • Víctor J. García-Morales

    (Department of Management, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain)

Abstract

Drawing on a dynamic capabilities perspective and a resource-based view, this article analyzes the relationship between absorptive capacity and corporate entrepreneurship, and their combined effect on organizations’ performance. It contributes to the literature by dissociating the dimensions of absorptive capacity (potential and realized) and corporate entrepreneurship (innovativeness, proactiveness, new business venturing, and self-renewal). A quantitative study was performed with data gathered by personal interviews, using a structured questionnaire. The theoretical model was estimated through a structural equation model, using a sample of 168 Spanish firms. The results show that proactiveness positively influences innovativeness and that both proactiveness and innovativeness have a positive influence on potential and realized absorptive capacity. A significant positive relationship also exists between potential and realized absorptive capacity. Furthermore, realized absorptive capacity positively influences new business venturing and self-renewal. Finally, proactiveness and new business venturing directly and positively influence organizational performance, but not innovativeness and self-renewal. The study demonstrates that entrepreneurs must be able to enhance potential and realize absorptive capacities at the same time in order to improve the end performance of their corporate entrepreneurial projects. Both absorptive capacities are strongly related to corporate entrepreneurial activities and have a strong influence on firms’ performance.

Suggested Citation

  • M.ª Magdalena Jiménez-Barrionuevo & Luis M. Molina & Víctor J. García-Morales, 2019. "Combined Influence of Absorptive Capacity and Corporate Entrepreneurship on Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-26, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:11:p:3034-:d:235229
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/11/3034/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/11/3034/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Danny Miller & Peter H. Friesen, 1982. "Innovation in conservative and entrepreneurial firms: Two models of strategic momentum," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(1), pages 1-25, January.
    2. Crescenzi, Riccardo & Gagliardi, Luisa, 2018. "The innovative performance of firms in heterogeneous environments: The interplay between external knowledge and internal absorptive capacities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 782-795.
    3. Gilsing, Victor & Nooteboom, Bart & Vanhaverbeke, Wim & Duysters, Geert & van den Oord, Ad, 2008. "Network embeddedness and the exploration of novel technologies: Technological distance, betweenness centrality and density," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1717-1731, December.
    4. Ali, Murad & Seny Kan, Konan Anderson & Sarstedt, Marko, 2016. "Direct and configurational paths of absorptive capacity and organizational innovation to successful organizational performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 5317-5323.
    5. Jansen, J.J.P. & van den Bosch, F.A.J. & Volberda, H.W., 2005. "Managing Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity: How do Organizational Antecedents matter?," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2005-025-STR, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    6. Jianwen Liao & Harold Welsch & Michael Stoica, 2003. "Organizational Absorptive Capacity and Responsiveness: An Empirical Investigation of Growth–Oriented SMEs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(1), pages 63-86, January.
    7. Robert M. Grant, 1996. "Prospering in Dynamically-Competitive Environments: Organizational Capability as Knowledge Integration," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(4), pages 375-387, August.
    8. Mowery, David C & Oxley, Joanne E, 1995. "Inward Technology Transfer and Competitiveness: The Role of National Innovation Systems," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 19(1), pages 67-93, February.
    9. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Gema Albort-Morant & Jörg Henseler & Gabriel Cepeda-Carrión & Antonio L. Leal-Rodríguez, 2018. "Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity as Complementary Drivers of Green Product and Process Innovation Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-20, February.
    11. Hullova, Dusana & Simms, Christopher Don & Trott, Paul & Laczko, Pavel, 2019. "Critical capabilities for effective management of complementarity between product and process innovation: Cases from the food and drink industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 339-354.
    12. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    13. Shaker A. Zahra & Daniel F. Jennings & Donald F. Kuratko, 1999. "The Antecedents and Consequences of Firm-Level Entrepreneurship: The State of the Field," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 24(2), pages 45-65, December.
    14. Kristian Möller & Senja Svahn, 2006. "Role of Knowledge in Value Creation in Business Nets," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(5), pages 985-1007, July.
    15. Choi, Byounggu & Poon, Simon K. & Davis, Joseph G., 2008. "Effects of knowledge management strategy on organizational performance: A complementarity theory-based approach," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 235-251, April.
    16. Cohen, Wesley M & Levinthal, Daniel A, 1989. "Innovation and Learning: The Two Faces of R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(397), pages 569-596, September.
    17. Mcgrath, Rita Gunther & Venkataraman, S. & Macmillan, Ian C., 1994. "The advantage chain: Antecedents to rents from internal corporate ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 9(5), pages 351-369, September.
    18. Peter J. Lane & Michael Lubatkin, 1998. "Relative absorptive capacity and interorganizational learning," Post-Print hal-02311860, HAL.
    19. Nooteboom, Bart & Van Haverbeke, Wim & Duysters, Geert & Gilsing, Victor & van den Oord, Ad, 2007. "Optimal cognitive distance and absorptive capacity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 1016-1034, September.
    20. Linsu Kim, 1998. "Crisis Construction and Organizational Learning: Capability Building in Catching-up at Hyundai Motor," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(4), pages 506-521, August.
    21. Ken Kusunoki & Ikujiro Nonaka & Akiya Nagata, 1998. "Organizational Capabilities in Product Development of Japanese Firms: A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Findings," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(6), pages 699-718, December.
    22. Jeffrey G. Covin & Dennis P. Slevin, 1991. "A Conceptual Model of Entrepreneurship as Firm Behavior," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 16(1), pages 7-26, October.
    23. Mueller, Pamela, 2006. "Exploring the knowledge filter: How entrepreneurship and university-industry relationships drive economic growth," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1499-1508, December.
    24. Bostjan Antoncic, 2006. "Impacts Of Diversification And Corporate Entrepreneurship Strategy Making On Growth And Profitability: A Normative Model," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(01), pages 49-63.
    25. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    26. John M. Stopford & Charles W. F. Baden‐Fuller, 1994. "Creating corporate entrepreneurship," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(7), pages 521-536, September.
    27. Antoncic, Bostjan & Hisrich, Robert D., 2001. "Intrapreneurship: Construct refinement and cross-cultural validation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 495-527, September.
    28. Jeffrey G. Covin & Morgan P. Miles, 2007. "Strategic Use of Corporate Venturing," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(2), pages 183-207, March.
    29. Cooke, Philip & Wills, David, 1999. "Small Firms, Social Capital and the Enhancement of Business Performance through Innovation Programmes," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 219-234, November.
    30. Janet Y. Murray & Masaaki Kotabe, 1999. "Sourcing strategies of U.S. service companies: a modified transaction–cost analysis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(9), pages 791-809, September.
    31. Danny Miller, 1983. "The Correlates of Entrepreneurship in Three Types of Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(7), pages 770-791, July.
    32. George P. Huber, 1991. "Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 88-115, February.
    33. Maurizio Zollo & Sidney G. Winter, 2002. "Deliberate Learning and the Evolution of Dynamic Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 339-351, June.
    34. Vikas Verma & Sangeeta Shah Bharadwaj & Madhushree Nanda, 2017. "Comparing agility and absorptive capacity for superior firm performance in dynamic environment," International Journal of Business Environment, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(1), pages 1-17.
    35. Zahra, Shaker A. & Garvis, Dennis M., 2000. "International corporate entrepreneurship and firm performance: The moderating effect of international environmental hostility," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(5-6), pages 469-492.
    36. Scott L. Newbert, 2007. "Empirical research on the resource‐based view of the firm: an assessment and suggestions for future research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 121-146, February.
    37. Flatten, Tessa C. & Engelen, Andreas & Zahra, Shaker A. & Brettel, Malte, 2011. "A measure of absorptive capacity: Scale development and validation," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 98-116, April.
    38. Zahra, Shaker A., 1993. "Environment, corporate entrepreneurship, and financial performance: A taxonomic approach," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 319-340, July.
    39. Petra Andries & Koenraad Debackere, 2007. "Adaptation and Performance in New Businesses: Understanding the Moderating Effects of Independence and Industry," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 81-99, June.
    40. Zahra, Shaker A., 1991. "Predictors and financial outcomes of corporate entrepreneurship: An exploratory study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 259-285, July.
    41. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    42. Kodama, Fumio & Suzuki, Jun, 2007. "How Japanese Companies have used Scientific Advances to Restructure their Businesses: The Receiver-Active National System of Innovation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 976-990, June.
    43. Joseph Amankwah-Amoah & Jan Ottosson & Hans Sjögren, 2017. "United we stand, divided we fall: historical trajectory of strategic renewal activities at the Scandinavian Airlines System, 1946–2012," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(4), pages 572-606, May.
    44. Beth A. Bechky, 2003. "Sharing Meaning Across Occupational Communities: The Transformation of Understanding on a Production Floor," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(3), pages 312-330, June.
    45. Zahra, Shaker A. & Covin, Jeffrey G., 1995. "Contextual influences on the corporate entrepreneurship-performance relationship: A longitudinal analysis," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 43-58, January.
    46. Kuratko, Donald F. & McMullen, Jeffery S. & Hornsby, Jeffrey S. & Jackson, Chad, 2017. "Is your organization conducive to the continuous creation of social value? Toward a social corporate entrepreneurship scale," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 271-283.
    47. Frans A. J. Van den Bosch & Henk W. Volberda & Michiel de Boer, 1999. "Coevolution of Firm Absorptive Capacity and Knowledge Environment: Organizational Forms and Combinative Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(5), pages 551-568, October.
    48. Rajesh Kumar & Kofi O. Nti, 1998. "Differential Learning and Interaction in Alliance Dynamics: A Process and Outcome Discrepancy Model," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 356-367, June.
    49. Emre Erbaş, 2018. "Organisational ambidexterity and industrial clockspeed theories in understanding dynamic managerial capabilities: a multiple case study," International Journal of Business Environment, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 10(2), pages 174-190.
    50. Kohtamäki, Marko & Heimonen, Jesse & Parida, Vinit, 2019. "The nonlinear relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and sales growth: The moderating effects of slack resources and absorptive capacity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 100-110.
    51. Andreu Turro & Claudia Alvarez & David Urbano, 2016. "Intrapreneurship in the Spanish context: a regional analysis," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(5-6), pages 380-402, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kulachet Mongkol, 2022. "The Impact of Dynamic Capabilities on the Performance of Thai Small and Medium Enterprises," International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management (IJABIM), IGI Global, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, January.
    2. Cuevas-Vargas, Héctor & Aguirre, Joao & Parga-Montoya, Neftalí, 2022. "Impact of ICT adoption on absorptive capacity and open innovation for greater firm performance. The mediating role of ACAP," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 11-24.
    3. Karbowski, Adam & Prokop, Jacek, 2019. "The Impact of Vertical R&D Cooperation on Market Performance of Firms," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 7(4), pages 73-89.
    4. Ilaria Galavotti & Daniele Cerrato & Franca Cantoni, 2020. "Surviving after Cross-Border Acquisitions: How Business Relatedness, Host Country Experience, and Cultural Distance Affect Acquired Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-18, August.
    5. Weifeng Xu & Qingsong Ruan & Chang Liu, 2019. "Can the Famous University Experience of Top Managers Improve Corporate Performance? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Tolulope Paul Akinbobola & Oluwole Matthew Akinnagbe, 2023. "Determinants of linkages between agricultural institutions and agro-allied industries in Southwest, Nigeria," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 228-248, January.
    7. Sara Alonso-Muñoz & Eva Pelechano-Barahona & Rocío González-Sánchez, 2020. "Participation in Group Companies as a Source of External Knowledge in Obtaining and Making Profitable Radical Innovations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-19, September.
    8. Martín-Rojas, Rodrigo & Garrido-Moreno, Aurora & García-Morales, Víctor J., 2020. "Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship with the use of social media tools," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 396-412.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maria Glinyanova & Ricarda B. Bouncken & Victor Tiberius & Antonio C. Cuenca Ballester, 2021. "Five decades of corporate entrepreneurship research: measuring and mapping the field," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1731-1757, December.
    2. Rodrigo Martín-Rojas & Virginia Fernández-Pérez & Encarnación García-Sánchez, 0. "Encouraging organizational performance through the influence of technological distinctive competencies on components of corporate entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-30.
    3. Rodrigo Martín-Rojas & Virginia Fernández-Pérez & Encarnación García-Sánchez, 2017. "Encouraging organizational performance through the influence of technological distinctive competencies on components of corporate entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 397-426, June.
    4. Engelen, Andreas & Kube, Harald & Schmidt, Susanne & Flatten, Tessa Christina, 2014. "Entrepreneurial orientation in turbulent environments: The moderating role of absorptive capacity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 1353-1369.
    5. Encarnacion García-Sánchez & Víctor Jesús García-Morales & Rodrigo Martín-Rojas, 2018. "Analysis of the influence of the environment, stakeholder integration capability, absorptive capacity, and technological skills on organizational performance through corporate entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 345-377, June.
    6. Arie Y. Lewin & Silvia Massini & Carine Peeters, 2011. "Microfoundations of Internal and External Absorptive Capacity Routines," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 81-98, February.
    7. Mariano, Stefania & Al-Arrayed, Suad, 2018. "Combinations of absorptive capacity metaroutines: The role of organizational disruptions and time constraints," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 171-182.
    8. Zhou, H. & Uhlaner, L.M., 2009. "Knowledge Management as a Strategic Tool to Foster Innovativeness of SMEs," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2009-025-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    9. Samuel Adomako, 2018. "The Moderating Effects Of Adaptive And Intellectual Resource Capabilities On The Relationship Between Entrepreneurial Orientation And Financial Performance," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(03), pages 1-35, April.
    10. Jan Lampe & Priscilla Sarai Kraft & Andreas Bausch, 2020. "Mapping the Field of Research on Entrepreneurial Organizations (1937–2016): A Bibliometric Analysis and Research Agenda," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(4), pages 784-816, July.
    11. Carlos Hernán González Campo & Andrea Hurtado Ayala, 2014. "Propuesta de un indicador de capacidad de absorción del conocimiento (ICAC-COL): evidencia empírica para el sector servicios en Colombia," Revista Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, vol. 0(2), pages 29-46, December.
    12. David Urbano & Andreu Turro & Mike Wright & Shaker Zahra, 2022. "Corporate entrepreneurship: a systematic literature review and future research agenda," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1541-1565, December.
    13. Walter, Achim & Auer, Michael & Ritter, Thomas, 2006. "The impact of network capabilities and entrepreneurial orientation on university spin-off performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 541-567, July.
    14. Daniel Robert Adams & Tessa Christina Flatten & Helge Brinkmann & Malte Brettel, 2016. "Consequences And Antecedents Of Absorptive Capacity In A Cross-Cultural Context," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(01), pages 1-39, January.
    15. Peeters, T.J.G., 2013. "External knowledge search and use in new product development," Other publications TiSEM 300ebb34-b090-4210-b95e-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    16. Lee, Ruby P. & Johnson, Jean L. & Grewal, Rajdeep, 2008. "Understanding the antecedents of collateral learning in new product alliances," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 192-200.
    17. Camisón, César & Forés, Beatriz, 2011. "Knowledge creation and absorptive capacity: The effect of intra-district shared competences," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 66-86, March.
    18. Yunis, Manal & Tarhini, Abbas & Kassar, Abdulnasser, 2018. "The role of ICT and innovation in enhancing organizational performance: The catalysing effect of corporate entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 344-356.
    19. Rafael Sancho-Zamora & Isidro Peña-García & Santiago Gutiérrez-Broncano & Felipe Hernández-Perlines, 2021. "Moderating Effect of Proactivity on Firm Absorptive Capacity and Performance: Empirical Evidence from Spanish Firms," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(17), pages 1-15, August.
    20. Camisón, César & Forés, Beatriz, 2010. "Knowledge absorptive capacity: New insights for its conceptualization and measurement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(7), pages 707-715, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:11:p:3034-:d:235229. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.