Paper info

The relationship between absorptive capacity and internal knowledge transfer capabilities

Gert Human and Rulani Visser

The paper was published at the 35th IMP-conference in Paris, France in 2019.

The capacity of knowledge worker teams to absorb and transfer knowledge enjoys considerable research attention. Our exploration attempts to construct an argument in support of the idea that absorptive capacity may lead to improved transactive memory via the effectiveness of knowledge transfers. This pilot stage report on a larger and ongoing study broadens the scope for considering alternative routes to employ the absorptive capacity of teams operating in B2B environments. At the individual level, our results suggest that knowledge acquisition and assimilation is associated with higher levels of knowledge transfer, while structured and unstructured knowledge transfer seem to support the specialisation, credibility and coordination that drives transactive memory. Such an inference, build on stronger evidence, may proof that the performance of teams based on stronger transactive memory systems in business-to-business teams may be enhanced via the effect of improved absorptive capacity.