Antecedents of absorptive capacity in knowledge-transfer projects: What affects the absorptive capacity of the recipient project team?

Abstract

For many companies, planning and executing effective knowledge transfer with external organizations is becoming increasingly relevant. However, the complexity of such processes often results in high failure rates. By taking the perspective of the recipient organization in a knowledge-transfer project, this research aims to identify the antecedents of a recipient project team’s absorptive capacity.  Empirical evidence from the case of a multi-national  energy company transferring technological and organizational knowledge from its UK to its Swedish subsidiary is combined with findings from prior research in order to develop a set of research propositions.