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Knowledge is increasingly regarded as the critical resources of firms and has been advocated extensively in the management literature. Much recent attention has been focused on the importance of effective "knowledge sharing" and its relationship with firms' performance. A plethora of work has also found evidence to support the notion that absorptive capacity plays an important role in the firm's ability to acquire knowledge and learn from various sources. This paper attempts to build an integrated framework, exploring the effects of knowledge sharing within firms on absorptive capacity and the relationship between these two constructs and innovation capability of firms. Based on the sample of 115 Chinese firms, this paper employs the structural equation modeling technique to empirically investigate the influence of knowledge sharing behavior on absorptive capacity and innovation capability, and the mediating effects of absorptive capacity. The managerial implications are inferred from the empirical results.

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Purpose Although the importance of network embeddedness attracted much attention in recent years, the interpretations of the underlying mechanism almost focus on the positive effects and neglect the potential negative aspects. This paper aims to use Chinese listed manufacturing enterprises, in the perspective of network embeddedness, to analyze whether resource curse effects exist in strategic networks of enterprises. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines the resource curse effect that exists in enterprise networks through analysis of enterprise’s total factors productivity compared with those of its industry peers with different degrees of embeddedness. This paper then uses several different methods, such as clustered fixed and random effect model, core and peripheral model, and generalized method of moments estimation in endogenous checks, to detect network curse effects and reveal three potential mechanisms, including overinvestment, extra maintaining cost and innovation extrusion. Findings This paper finds that excessive network embeddedness hinders continuous improvement of productivity, which is derived from three mechanisms: excessive network embeddedness makes information redundancy among enterprises, and the imitate-follow effect makes excessive investment seriously; enterprises have to encounter more problems and difficulties, such as information coordination and benefit negotiation, to maintain network relationship, which leads to extra cost; enterprises with abundant network resources may tend to more emphasis on marketable operational abilities, resulting in resource decentralization and less investment on innovation, which is finally not beneficial to productivity improvement in the long run. Originality/value Compared with previous literatures, this paper not only enriches the understanding of negative mechanisms in enterprise`s network embeddedness, but also unfolds the inconsistency of network embeddedness effects in practice and finds new evidence that the two types of network embeddedness are consistent in certain circumstances.

Purpose Based on the business network view and cultural friction theory, this study aims to construct a theoretical model of the cultural friction effect and its mechanism of action during the transformation of Chinese enterprises from outsiders to insiders with equal and legitimate competitive status. Design/methodology/approach Data including cross-border M&As of Chinese enterprises in 17 major countries or regions and domestic M&As in China and host countries from 1982 to 2016 were used to test the hypotheses. Findings This study finds that the presence of cultural friction in cross-border M&As diminishes the probability that Chinese firms will adopt a more rapid pace of entry into the core position of the host country's business network. Originality/value First, this study has theoretical implications for studying Chinese firms' cross-border M&As from the perspective of the host country. Second, the theoretical construction of this paper reveals the double meaning from outsidership to insidership. Third, this study responds to the academic initiative that a more comprehensive and appropriate study should include factors such as the structural characteristics of the home or host market and stakeholders.