%0 Journal Article
%T Absorptive capacity: Relevancy for large and small enterprises
%A Joshua R. Ndiege
%A Marlien E. Herselman
%A Stephen V. Flowerday
%J South African Journal of Information Management
%D 2012
%I AOSIS OpenJournals
%X Background: Over the years, there has been a growing interest in organisational research inthe absorptive capacity (AC) construct, but only a few theoretical and empirical studies onthis topic have been carried out over the last decade. However, a number of scholars andpractitioners have continued to cite AC as a significant factor in determining the success orfailure of organisations. With the dramatic changes in business environments, there has beena growing rise in the use of knowledge by organisations to help improve and maintain theircompetitiveness and consequently their survival. AC is a fundamental element that helpsorganisations to gain competitive advantage by producing commercial products or servicesthrough the transformation of knowledge.Objective: The purpose of this article is thus to provide a review of the literature on this subjectwith the aim of finding out how both large and small enterprises stand to benefit from AC. Weintend to affirm that, by successfully carrying out a learning process that is characterised by theexploration and exploitation of external knowledge and the organisation¡¯s current knowledgebase, organisations can realise competitive advantage irrespective of their size.Method: In the literature search, three approaches were employed, namely academic databases,online search engines and a review of references of related studies which led to more relevantarticles and works whose references were further reviewed and analysed. Content analysiswas done on all collected articles for quality appraisal and synthesis, the results of which wepresent as discussions on various sections of this paper leading to answering of our studyobjective. Only peer-reviewed articles were used.Results: Our findings reveal that, irrespective of the organisation¡¯s size, it can benefitsignificantly from AC. The study further reveal that AC is a strong predictor of an organisation¡¯sperformance and hence a strategic asset for the organisation. Organisations with high AC areable to learn how to utilise new knowledge within their processes and come up with changesthat improve their competitive advantage.Conclusion: We submit that, because AC is a strong predictor of an organisation¡¯s performance,it is imperative that the necessary measures are taken to improve the levels of AC for all firms,irrespective of their size.
%K Absorptive capacity
%K enterprises
%K commercial products
%K knowledge management
%K online search engines
%U http://www.sajim.co.za/index.php/SAJIM/article/view/520