Absorptive capacity: a non-linear process

Since the Cohen and Levinthal article on absorptive capacity was published, ‘the ability to recognize the value of new information, to assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends’ (p. 128) is seen as an essential competence for a firm’s long-term performance. However, the way absorptive capacity is actually implemented in firms remains relatively poorly known. The few existing works present absorptive capacity as an essentially linear...