환경의 불확실성이 높아질수록 기업의 경쟁력을 위한 성장동력으로서 기술혁신의 중요성은 더욱 강조되고 있다. 기술혁신의 성과를 향상하기 위하여 조직의 지식을 관리하고 조직학습 과정을 이해하는 것은 전략경영에 있어서 중요한 주제로 다루어지고 있다. 그렇다면, 기술혁신을 위한 새로운 지식은 어디서 오는 것인가? 조직의 내부에서 오는가, 아니면 외부에서 오는가? 내부와 외부의 지식을 탐색하고 활용하는 기업은 어떤 조직역량을 보유하고 있어야 하며, 이러한 탐색활동이 기술혁신에는 어떤 영향을 미치는가?
본 논문에서는 기술혁신과 가장 중요한 연관성을 갖는 조직역량으로 흡수능력을 제시하고, 기술혁신과 흡수능력의 교호적인 관계를 조명함으로써, 기존 연구에서 다루고 있지 않는 인과관계를 제안한다. 즉, 탐색활동이 흡수능력의 향상에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지에 대한 개념적인 모델을 제시하는데, 흡수능력을 매개변수로 하여 탐색활동이 기술혁신 결과에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지 그 과정을 대상으로 하는 모델을 구축하였다.
본 연구가 제안하는 개념적인 모델에 의하면 기술혁신을 위한 기업의 탐색 활동 중 내부경계 탐색(internal boundary-spanning)은 흡수능력 유형 중 잠재 흡수능력(potential absorptive capacity)을 향상하게 되고 이것은 연구개발 과정에서 연구(research) 단계의 속도에 긍정적인 영향을 미치게 된다. 대조적으로, 외부경계 탐색(external boundary-spanning)은 실현 흡수능력(realized absorptive capacity)을 향상시키고 이것은 개발(development) 단계의 속도를 향상시킨다는 결론을 도출하였다.
In response to ever increasing environmental uncertainty, technological innovation becomes an important subject of strategic management field. Where does new knowledge for innovation come from? Does it come from inside or outside an organization? What kind of organizational capability is required in order to search for and leverage internal and/or external knowledge? How do different search activities influence the performance of technological innovation? This study suggests a conceptual model establishing the recursive relationship between technological innovation and absorptive capacity. More specifically, the model investigates the process of the knowledge search behavior getting translated into the technological innovation performance in terms of R&D speed, with absorptive capacity as a mediating variable. We argue that internal boundary-spanning activity promotes the potential absorptive capacity which, in turn, enhances the speed of research stage of an R&D process. External boundary-spanning, on the other hand, accelerates the speed of development stage of an R&D process, through the realized absorptive capacity. Furthermore, we suggest that both types of absorptive capacity co-evolve with the other having a positive influence on the innovation performance.
In response to ever increasing environmental uncertainty, technological innovation becomes an important subject of strategic management field. Where does new knowledge for innovation come from? Does it come from inside or outside an organization? What kind of organizational capability is required in order to search for and leverage internal and/or external knowledge? How do different search activities influence the performance of technological innovation? This study suggests a conceptual model establishing the recursive relationship between technological innovation and absorptive capacity. More specifically, the model investigates the process of the knowledge search behavior getting translated into the technological innovation performance in terms of R&D speed, with absorptive capacity as a mediating variable. We argue that internal boundary-spanning activity promotes the potential absorptive capacity which, in turn, enhances the speed of research stage of an R&D process. External boundary-spanning, on the other hand, accelerates the speed of development stage of an R&D process, through the realized absorptive capacity. Furthermore, we suggest that both types of absorptive capacity co-evolve with the other having a positive influence on the innovation performance.
