CONDITIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCHERS’ ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY
CONDITIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCHERS’ ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the paper is to discuss factors that may influence researchers’ absorptive capacity. A review of literature indicates that traditional role of universities, limited to education and undertaking research activities focused primarily on the development of scientific theories, has evolved towards the requirement of innovation and active search for opportunities to commercialize research results. Among many factors determining the innovativeness of researchers and their ability to commercially exploit research results, the importance of researchers’ absorptive capacity (ACAP) has been increasingly stressed. Understanding of ACAP at the individual level has been limited so far, as most of the research focus on the organizational level. Having examined the literature on both ACAP and the specificity of researcher’s job and organizations that employ them, we propose a research model and formulate hypotheses about individual, organizational and institutional determinants of researchers’ ACAP. We propose to consider the construct of researcher’s ACAP as a complex phenomenon that refers to individual competencies (research knowledge, capabilities, innovative research performance), capability to accelerate the absorption process, and personal traits. We claim that the low level of individual researchers’ absorptive capacity interferes with innovativeness of research outcomes and that it can be enhanced through development of competencies, capabilities and traits, that are characteristic for innovators of spinoffs or start-up businesses and managers of SMEs.

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