Conceptualization of Absorptive Capacity Dimensions in Higher Education Institutions: A Qualitative View

Mercy Asaa Asiedu; Jesse Kwaku Doe

doi:doi:10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13

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Conceptualization of Absorptive Capacity Dimensions in Higher Education Institutions: A Qualitative View

Mercy Asaa Asiedu, Jesse Kwaku Doe

Published in Education Journal (Volume 11, Issue 6)

Received: 28 September 2022 Accepted: 13 October 2022 Published: 22 November 2022

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the contextual meaning of Absorptive Capacity (ACAP) in the higher education institution (HEI) domain. The ACAP concept has been widely researched in the management of businesses. However, managing knowledge is crucial, not only in business organizations but also in the HEI which is a knowledge intensive domain. This is necessary as there is a need to bring out a clear understanding of the terminologies that are used to represent the dimensions of ACAP in academia in such a way that there are no ambiguities in their interpretations in research. This paper therefore empirically examines the conceptualization of dimensions of ACAP in order to bring coherence and clarity to the ACAP construct specifically in the HEI domain. This will broaden the knowledge-based view in terms of new knowledge creation or the addition of new knowledge to existing knowledge in the HEI domain. Employing the qualitative research design, ten (10) Heads of departments (HODs) of Business Schools in selected HEIs in the Greater Accra region of Ghana were the targeted participants selected using the purposive sampling technique in order to gather quality and reliable data. Semi-structured interviews were used to unearth in-depth information and understand the views of these faculty staff on the concept of ACAP and also to provide room for follow up questions leading to the discovery of emerging themes. Qualitative data were analyzed using the General Inductive approach to derive the contextual meaning of ACAP and its dimensions in the HEI domain. Empirical findings revealed three (3) core dimensions of ACAP as “Knowledge Search”, “Knowledge Accumulation” and “Process Transformation” within the HEI context. Innovations derived from the ACAP process in the HEI domain were found to be more beneficial to society as a whole than the ACAP process in the business domain. The compelling difference is that whilst ACAP in businesses benefits only the organization as a whole in terms of innovation performance, profitability and competitive advantage, the benefits of ACAP in academia are far more reaching as it benefits five categories of stakeholders as follows: transfers scholarly knowledge to benefit faculties, departments and the university as a whole, produces quality graduates for the job market, delivers reliable findings for industry practitioners, enhances individual academics’ research output, and boosts the image of the HEI for overall competitive advantage and sustained relevance in this knowledge economy.

Published in	Education Journal (Volume 11, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13
Page(s)	320-330
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Absorptive Capacity, Knowledge Search, Knowledge Accumulation, Process Transformation, Higher Education Institution

References

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Mercy Asaa Asiedu, Jesse Kwaku Doe. (2022). Conceptualization of Absorptive Capacity Dimensions in Higher Education Institutions: A Qualitative View. Education Journal, 11(6), 320-330. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13

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Mercy Asaa Asiedu; Jesse Kwaku Doe. Conceptualization of Absorptive Capacity Dimensions in Higher Education Institutions: A Qualitative View. Educ. J. 2022, 11(6), 320-330. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13

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Mercy Asaa Asiedu, Jesse Kwaku Doe. Conceptualization of Absorptive Capacity Dimensions in Higher Education Institutions: A Qualitative View. Educ J. 2022;11(6):320-330. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13

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@article{10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13,
  author = {Mercy Asaa Asiedu and Jesse Kwaku Doe},
  title = {Conceptualization of Absorptive Capacity Dimensions in Higher Education Institutions: A Qualitative View},
  journal = {Education Journal},
  volume = {11},
  number = {6},
  pages = {320-330},
  doi = {10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.20221106.13},
  abstract = {The purpose of this paper is to explore the contextual meaning of Absorptive Capacity (ACAP) in the higher education institution (HEI) domain. The ACAP concept has been widely researched in the management of businesses. However, managing knowledge is crucial, not only in business organizations but also in the HEI which is a knowledge intensive domain. This is necessary as there is a need to bring out a clear understanding of the terminologies that are used to represent the dimensions of ACAP in academia in such a way that there are no ambiguities in their interpretations in research. This paper therefore empirically examines the conceptualization of dimensions of ACAP in order to bring coherence and clarity to the ACAP construct specifically in the HEI domain. This will broaden the knowledge-based view in terms of new knowledge creation or the addition of new knowledge to existing knowledge in the HEI domain. Employing the qualitative research design, ten (10) Heads of departments (HODs) of Business Schools in selected HEIs in the Greater Accra region of Ghana were the targeted participants selected using the purposive sampling technique in order to gather quality and reliable data. Semi-structured interviews were used to unearth in-depth information and understand the views of these faculty staff on the concept of ACAP and also to provide room for follow up questions leading to the discovery of emerging themes. Qualitative data were analyzed using the General Inductive approach to derive the contextual meaning of ACAP and its dimensions in the HEI domain. Empirical findings revealed three (3) core dimensions of ACAP as “Knowledge Search”, “Knowledge Accumulation” and “Process Transformation” within the HEI context. Innovations derived from the ACAP process in the HEI domain were found to be more beneficial to society as a whole than the ACAP process in the business domain. The compelling difference is that whilst ACAP in businesses benefits only the organization as a whole in terms of innovation performance, profitability and competitive advantage, the benefits of ACAP in academia are far more reaching as it benefits five categories of stakeholders as follows: transfers scholarly knowledge to benefit faculties, departments and the university as a whole, produces quality graduates for the job market, delivers reliable findings for industry practitioners, enhances individual academics’ research output, and boosts the image of the HEI for overall competitive advantage and sustained relevance in this knowledge economy.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Conceptualization of Absorptive Capacity Dimensions in Higher Education Institutions: A Qualitative View
AU  - Mercy Asaa Asiedu
AU  - Jesse Kwaku Doe
Y1  - 2022/11/22
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13
T2  - Education Journal
JF  - Education Journal
JO  - Education Journal
SP  - 320
EP  - 330
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2327-2619
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13
AB  - The purpose of this paper is to explore the contextual meaning of Absorptive Capacity (ACAP) in the higher education institution (HEI) domain. The ACAP concept has been widely researched in the management of businesses. However, managing knowledge is crucial, not only in business organizations but also in the HEI which is a knowledge intensive domain. This is necessary as there is a need to bring out a clear understanding of the terminologies that are used to represent the dimensions of ACAP in academia in such a way that there are no ambiguities in their interpretations in research. This paper therefore empirically examines the conceptualization of dimensions of ACAP in order to bring coherence and clarity to the ACAP construct specifically in the HEI domain. This will broaden the knowledge-based view in terms of new knowledge creation or the addition of new knowledge to existing knowledge in the HEI domain. Employing the qualitative research design, ten (10) Heads of departments (HODs) of Business Schools in selected HEIs in the Greater Accra region of Ghana were the targeted participants selected using the purposive sampling technique in order to gather quality and reliable data. Semi-structured interviews were used to unearth in-depth information and understand the views of these faculty staff on the concept of ACAP and also to provide room for follow up questions leading to the discovery of emerging themes. Qualitative data were analyzed using the General Inductive approach to derive the contextual meaning of ACAP and its dimensions in the HEI domain. Empirical findings revealed three (3) core dimensions of ACAP as “Knowledge Search”, “Knowledge Accumulation” and “Process Transformation” within the HEI context. Innovations derived from the ACAP process in the HEI domain were found to be more beneficial to society as a whole than the ACAP process in the business domain. The compelling difference is that whilst ACAP in businesses benefits only the organization as a whole in terms of innovation performance, profitability and competitive advantage, the benefits of ACAP in academia are far more reaching as it benefits five categories of stakeholders as follows: transfers scholarly knowledge to benefit faculties, departments and the university as a whole, produces quality graduates for the job market, delivers reliable findings for industry practitioners, enhances individual academics’ research output, and boosts the image of the HEI for overall competitive advantage and sustained relevance in this knowledge economy.
VL  - 11
IS  - 6
ER  -

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Author Information

Mercy Asaa Asiedu

Department of Management, Graduate School of Management, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Jesse Kwaku Doe

College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

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Mercy Asaa Asiedu, Jesse Kwaku Doe. (2022). Conceptualization of Absorptive Capacity Dimensions in Higher Education Institutions: A Qualitative View. Education Journal, 11(6), 320-330. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13

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ACS Style

Mercy Asaa Asiedu; Jesse Kwaku Doe. Conceptualization of Absorptive Capacity Dimensions in Higher Education Institutions: A Qualitative View. Educ. J. 2022, 11(6), 320-330. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13

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AMA Style

Mercy Asaa Asiedu, Jesse Kwaku Doe. Conceptualization of Absorptive Capacity Dimensions in Higher Education Institutions: A Qualitative View. Educ J. 2022;11(6):320-330. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13,
  author = {Mercy Asaa Asiedu and Jesse Kwaku Doe},
  title = {Conceptualization of Absorptive Capacity Dimensions in Higher Education Institutions: A Qualitative View},
  journal = {Education Journal},
  volume = {11},
  number = {6},
  pages = {320-330},
  doi = {10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.20221106.13},
  abstract = {The purpose of this paper is to explore the contextual meaning of Absorptive Capacity (ACAP) in the higher education institution (HEI) domain. The ACAP concept has been widely researched in the management of businesses. However, managing knowledge is crucial, not only in business organizations but also in the HEI which is a knowledge intensive domain. This is necessary as there is a need to bring out a clear understanding of the terminologies that are used to represent the dimensions of ACAP in academia in such a way that there are no ambiguities in their interpretations in research. This paper therefore empirically examines the conceptualization of dimensions of ACAP in order to bring coherence and clarity to the ACAP construct specifically in the HEI domain. This will broaden the knowledge-based view in terms of new knowledge creation or the addition of new knowledge to existing knowledge in the HEI domain. Employing the qualitative research design, ten (10) Heads of departments (HODs) of Business Schools in selected HEIs in the Greater Accra region of Ghana were the targeted participants selected using the purposive sampling technique in order to gather quality and reliable data. Semi-structured interviews were used to unearth in-depth information and understand the views of these faculty staff on the concept of ACAP and also to provide room for follow up questions leading to the discovery of emerging themes. Qualitative data were analyzed using the General Inductive approach to derive the contextual meaning of ACAP and its dimensions in the HEI domain. Empirical findings revealed three (3) core dimensions of ACAP as “Knowledge Search”, “Knowledge Accumulation” and “Process Transformation” within the HEI context. Innovations derived from the ACAP process in the HEI domain were found to be more beneficial to society as a whole than the ACAP process in the business domain. The compelling difference is that whilst ACAP in businesses benefits only the organization as a whole in terms of innovation performance, profitability and competitive advantage, the benefits of ACAP in academia are far more reaching as it benefits five categories of stakeholders as follows: transfers scholarly knowledge to benefit faculties, departments and the university as a whole, produces quality graduates for the job market, delivers reliable findings for industry practitioners, enhances individual academics’ research output, and boosts the image of the HEI for overall competitive advantage and sustained relevance in this knowledge economy.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Conceptualization of Absorptive Capacity Dimensions in Higher Education Institutions: A Qualitative View
AU  - Mercy Asaa Asiedu
AU  - Jesse Kwaku Doe
Y1  - 2022/11/22
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13
T2  - Education Journal
JF  - Education Journal
JO  - Education Journal
SP  - 320
EP  - 330
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2327-2619
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20221106.13
AB  - The purpose of this paper is to explore the contextual meaning of Absorptive Capacity (ACAP) in the higher education institution (HEI) domain. The ACAP concept has been widely researched in the management of businesses. However, managing knowledge is crucial, not only in business organizations but also in the HEI which is a knowledge intensive domain. This is necessary as there is a need to bring out a clear understanding of the terminologies that are used to represent the dimensions of ACAP in academia in such a way that there are no ambiguities in their interpretations in research. This paper therefore empirically examines the conceptualization of dimensions of ACAP in order to bring coherence and clarity to the ACAP construct specifically in the HEI domain. This will broaden the knowledge-based view in terms of new knowledge creation or the addition of new knowledge to existing knowledge in the HEI domain. Employing the qualitative research design, ten (10) Heads of departments (HODs) of Business Schools in selected HEIs in the Greater Accra region of Ghana were the targeted participants selected using the purposive sampling technique in order to gather quality and reliable data. Semi-structured interviews were used to unearth in-depth information and understand the views of these faculty staff on the concept of ACAP and also to provide room for follow up questions leading to the discovery of emerging themes. Qualitative data were analyzed using the General Inductive approach to derive the contextual meaning of ACAP and its dimensions in the HEI domain. Empirical findings revealed three (3) core dimensions of ACAP as “Knowledge Search”, “Knowledge Accumulation” and “Process Transformation” within the HEI context. Innovations derived from the ACAP process in the HEI domain were found to be more beneficial to society as a whole than the ACAP process in the business domain. The compelling difference is that whilst ACAP in businesses benefits only the organization as a whole in terms of innovation performance, profitability and competitive advantage, the benefits of ACAP in academia are far more reaching as it benefits five categories of stakeholders as follows: transfers scholarly knowledge to benefit faculties, departments and the university as a whole, produces quality graduates for the job market, delivers reliable findings for industry practitioners, enhances individual academics’ research output, and boosts the image of the HEI for overall competitive advantage and sustained relevance in this knowledge economy.
VL  - 11
IS  - 6
ER  -

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