Unpacking the Black Box of Absorptive Capacity and Testing a Firm Level Theory of Innovation-Imitation Adaptation: A Panel Study of Firms Offshoring of White Collar Jobs

本研究的目标是解开吸收能力的黑匣子，检验企业层面的创新模仿在企业适应中的作用。这项纵向研究使用了关于白领行政和技术工作离岸的新的原始公司级面板数据。对小组中选定的公司进行的理论指导的实地研究提供了对构成公司吸收能力的潜在惯例的直接观察和描述。一系列案例研究提供了具体的程序说明和例程表达，作为设计专门用于衡量公司内部和外部吸收能力的新调查工具的输入。两个关键的研究问题将从计量经济学的角度加以阐述。第一个问题是，在同一项新的离岸业务中，早期采纳者和后期采用者在吸收能力方面是否存在差异，以及差异有多大。第二个问题是，新的离岸业务实践的成功早期采用者是否利用了特定的过去经验，并发展了某些吸收能力，使他们能够随着白领工作离岸随着时间的推移而发展并成为既定的行业实践，坚持应用和创新新的离岸业务实践。此外，纵向面板数据还将用于开发部门内和整个组织人口的异质扩散模型。该项目将建立一个研究人员和从业人员社区，以分享涉及白领工作离岸的最佳做法，同时推动关于离岸外包的出现和扩散及其相关组织惯例的研究。离岸外包项目的调查结果对于寻找和定位世界各地的人力资本以及跟踪基于网络的网络组织形式的出现具有更广泛的影响。对吸收能力黑箱拆解的研究对于推进企业和行业战略更新的知识和管理实践具有直接的意义。研究成果将通过学术出版物、媒体和CIBER领导的国家贸易政策论坛传播。

The goal of this research project is to unpack the black box of absorptive capacity and test a firm level theory on role of innovation-imitation in firm adaptation. This longitudinal study uses new original firm-level panel data on offshoring of white collar administrative and technical jobs. Theory-guided field study of selected companies in the panel provides direct observation and description of underlying routines that make up absorptive capacity capability of firms. A series of case studies provides specific process description and expression of routines as input to the design of a new survey instrument specifically for measuring firm internal and external absorptive capacity. Two key research questions will be addressed econometrically. The first one is whether and how early and late adopters in same new offshoring business differ in terms of their absorptive capacity. The second one is whether successful early adopters of a new offshoring business practice exploit specific past experiences and develop certain absorptive capacity capabilities that enable them to persist in applying and innovating new offshoring business practices as offshoring of white collar jobs evolves over time and becomes an established industry practice. In addition the longitudinal panel data will also be used in developing heterogeneous diffusion models within sectors and across the entire population of organizations.Broader impacts of the research project. The project will build a community of researchers and practitioners for sharing best practices involving offshoring of white collar jobs while also advancing research on emergence and diffusion of offshoring and its associated organizational routines. The offshoring project findings have wider implications for sourcing and locating human capital anywhere in the world and for tracking the emergence of web based network organizational form. The research on unpacking black box of absorptive capacity has direct implications for advancing knowledge and managerial practices involving strategic renewal of companies and industries. Research findings will be disseminated through academic publications, the media, and CIBER-led National Forum on Trade Policy.