The construct of absorptive capacity in knowledge management and intellectual capital research: content and text analyses

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a holistic picture of how and to what extent Cohen and Levinthal’s (1990) seminal article on absorptive capacity was used in knowledge management (KM) and intellectual capital (IC) research from 1990 to 2013. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, 186 articles extracted from eight KM and IC journals were reviewed by conducting both content and text analyses. To facilitate research comparison, content analysis followed the method used by Roberts et al. (2012) and thus was based on categories, conceptualizations, levels of analysis and, additionally, temporal evolution of absorptive capacity from 1990 to 2013 was looked at. Text analysis was performed to identify major research themes developing the absorptive capacity construct. Findings – Finding showed that absorptive capacity was largely underdeveloped in the KM and IC fields. KM, knowledge transfer and innovation were the top three research areas investigating absorptive capacity in the KM and IC fields. Research limitations/implications – This study had limitations related to time frame, covering a period from April 1990 to November 2013, and accessibility of articles due to specific restrictions in journal subscriptions. Originality/value – This paper is a first attempt to review absorptive capacity in KM and IC research. It represented a primary reference for those interested to research absorptive capacity in the KM and IC fields.