The role of client knowledge absorptive capacity for innovation in KIBS

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to study the relationship between the knowledge exchanged during client interactions and innovation in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) enterprises. It adapts the concept of absorptive capacity, i.e. the ability of the firm to successfully deal with external knowledge, to the case of client knowledge being absorbed with the support of information and communication technologies and explores whether its three main dimensions (acquisition, assimilation and application of client knowledge) are significant enablers of KIBS’ innovation propensity. Design/methodology/approach An empirical analysis is based on a dataset of 417 Russian KIBS companies collected in 2019 following the recommendations suggested in the new edition of Oslo Manual. To examine the relationship between the three-client knowledge absorptive capacity dimensions and implementation of different types of innovation by KIBS, the study applies linear ordinary least squares and logistic regression methods. Findings The results show that acquisition of client knowledge through the wide number of digital channels, assimilation of such knowledge boosted by its codification through a digital customer relationship management (CRM) system and application of client knowledge across different functional areas are positively associated with both product and business process innovations in KIBS. Originality/value The paper proposes that KIBS should develop and sustain the strong internal capacity to absorb knowledge through routine day-to-day client interactions as a part of their knowledge management systems. The results also indicate that application of digital communication tools and CRM systems are beneficial for KIBS and increases their propensity to innovate.

Demystifying the role of internal dynamics in the path of innovative competitiveness: a serial mediation model of international joint ventures

“…Knowledge has superseded the traditional sources of competitiveness, especially for multinational firms (Grant, 1991). Accordingly, knowledge management in an inter-organizational context is emerging as a hot research topic globally (Bamel et al , 2021; Chichkanov, 2020; Sharma and Deb, 2019). Bibliometric studies have demarcated KT as one of the most important research areas of knowledge management, especially in the context of international partnerships (Aggarwal and Kapoor, 2018; Bamel et al , 2021; Jabnoun, 2019; Moyo, 2015).…”

Managing Knowledge in Romanian KIBS during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…KM in KIBS is an extremely relevant topic, but academic research in the field, including in the main academic flows, is rather narrow [8,[24][25][26][27][28]30,57,58,[78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86]. Also, many authors ignore the main attributes of knowledge, which are intangibility and nonlinearity [53,87].…”

Energy Management in Manufacturing

“…Realized AC includes the routines with which the firm is able to explore the knowledge and apply it into product or service as the capability of transformation. Recently other researchers explore other factors such as the effect of AC on Open Innovation in SMEs (Huber et al, 2020;Lu et al, 2020;Senivongse, 2020), KM (Barakat, 2020;Chichkanov 2020), financial (Papazoglou and Spanos, 2021), organizational structures (García-Sánchez et al 2018;Siachou, 2021;Saeed, 2021), resources (Bhowmik, 2020), and manufacturing (Rehman et al, 2020;Duran et al, 2020). Most studies grounded in AC reflect the importance of bringing in outside sources of knowledge which is critical for the firm's AC.…”