Redefining the relationship between intellectual capital and innovation: The mediating role of absorptive capacity

The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between absorptive capacity, intellectual capital and innovation. The main purpose of this research is to demonstrate that absorptive capacity can leverage the relation between intellectual capital and innovation potential. The method was a...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Cassol, Alessandra, Gonçalo, Cláudio Reis, Ruas, Roberto Lima
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:Brasil
Institución:Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração (ANPAD)
Repositorio:BAR - Brazilian Administration Review
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs3.bar.anpad.org.br:article/306
Acceso en línea:https://bar.anpad.org.br/index.php/bar/article/view/306
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:intellectual capital
absorptive capacity
innovation
Descripción
Sumario:The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between absorptive capacity, intellectual capital and innovation. The main purpose of this research is to demonstrate that absorptive capacity can leverage the relation between intellectual capital and innovation potential. The method was a single case study using exploratory and descriptive research strategies and applying both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The case study investigated was a Brazilian corporation that has been doing business in the paper and corrugated cardboard industry for 72 years. The paper describes a case analysis demonstrating that adoption of practices associated with absorptive capacity has potential to foster intellectual capital, which is particularly important for development of innovations. These practices include assimilation of new technologies; creating capacity to utilize existing internal knowledge held by employees; use of benchmarking; application of technical knowledge; and registration of patents. Triangulation of data provided evidence confirming that the relationship between absorptive capacity and intellectual capital is a driver of innovation in the firm investigated. Additionally, this relationship is better explained by the mediating role of absorptive capacity, which is capable of potentiating intellectual capital to foster innovation.