Absorptive capacity balance and new venture performance: cultivating knowledge from regional clusters

ABSTRACT

Applying the knowledge-based theory to the context of very young firms (new ventures) this study examines whether and how the knowledge characteristics of regional clusters influence the development of capabilities and performance of new ventures. Specifically, we focus on a crucial capability for new ventures to benefit from external knowledge and harness it for advantage: absorptive capacity. Using a sample of 140 new ventures located in 7 distinct regional clusters in Spain, we find that both, the intensity of knowledge sharing among clients and suppliers, and the social structure of regional clusters encourage new ventures to develop their absorptive capacity differently, having consequences for the balance between its potential and realised dimensions. Further, the results support the important role of absorptive capacity in mediating the effects of the knowledge environment (cluster characteristics) on new ventures’ performance. Implications for building new ventures’ absorptive capacity and cultivating knowledge from clusters are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Absorptive capacity
• regional clusters
• new ventures
• performance

Notes on contributors

Gloria Solano works as Economist at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC) in Seville, Spain in the position of Scientific/Technical Project Researcher. She has a broad international professional experience in the business sector and, in particular, in the business management area. Currently, she is enrolled in the PhD programme in Management and Strategy Research at Pablo Olavide University. She is interested in the competitive dynamics of growth seeking entrepreneurial ventures.

Bárbara Larrañeta is Associate Professor at the Department of Management and Marketing of Pablo Olavide University (Spain), where she teaches and conducts research at the intersection of Strategy and Entrepreneurship. The results of her research are published in leading international journals, such as Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Business Venturing, Industrial and Corporate Change, Journal of Business Research, and European Management Journal. She serves on the editorial board of Business Research Quarterly.

Rocio Aguilar is Assistant Professor at the Department of Management and Marketing of Pablo Olavide University (Spain), where she teaches Strategy and Management. Her research is focused on exploring the dynamics of the founding and top management teams of entrepreneurial ventures during their early years of operations. The results of her research are published in international journals, such as Journal of Technology Transfer and Structural Change and Economics Dynamics.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades [grant number RTI 2018-101038-B-100].