Data-driven Applications to Foster Absorptive Capacity: A Literature-based Conceptualization

Abstract

The relevance of data-driven applications for leveraging knowledge embedded in data is growing. Thereby, an organization's capability to create, disseminate, and exploit knowledge (i.e., absorptive capacity) is a decisive factor in gaining competitive advantages. In this paper, we address the lack of guidance on the development and application of datadriven applications fostering an organization's absorptive capacity. Based on a structured literature review, we derive seven data-driven application capabilities and match them with an established conceptualization of absorptive capacity. While previous literature did not allow for a specific analysis, our functional representation concretely demonstrates how data-driven applications composed of separate capabilities can foster absorptive capacity in manifold ways. This paper contributes to the literature by providing a structured literature review on the impact of IT on absorptive capacity as well as introducing theoretically-based and modularized data-driven application capabilities.

The effect of social media on open innovation mediated by knowledge construction process (the case of study: Employees of Mashhad airline agencies)

“…Relative knowledge absorption, like Cohen and Levinthal's definition of knowledge absorption, depends on the ability of the student company to recognize and value new external knowledge, absorb that knowledge and use it commercially. They examined, among other things, the asymmetry in knowledge absorption between partners and the likelihood of successful R&D joint ventures [25] .…”