Processes Underlying MNE Subsidiary Absorptive Capacity: Evidence from Emerging Markets
研究了在新兴市场运营的跨国公司子公司管理者如何识别、吸收和应用外部知识，识别出六个关键构念并构建了吸收能力的动态过程模型，对理解吸收能力的微观过程有贡献。
We explore the determinants of absorptive capacity by examining how managers of MNE subsidiaries operating in emerging markets recognize, assimilate and apply external knowledge. From analysis of the subsidiaries of 12 MNEs with data from a total of 62 informants from China, India, Brazil and Kenya, six constructs emerged: prior knowledge significance, unlearning, explorative scanning, transformative learning, exploitative application and organization context. Through the iteration of data and theory, we develop a model, which presents a process framework that suggests the dynamic relationships among the emergent concepts underlying absorptive capacity. By identifying and explicating key actions and practices that have previously been largely treated as implicit in the absorptive capacity literature, the study enriches understanding of the micro-processes of absorptive capacity.