Study goals
The aim of this article is to systematize the conceptual and empirical literature on the dimension of acquisition of absorptive capacity in SMEs.
Relevance / originality
Studies on the dimension of acquisition of absorptive capacity have grown in the last 3 years, however these studies analyze the context of medium and large organizations. SMEs have shown an increasing flow in empirical research due to their impact on national economies. This contextual difference can expand the possibilities of this dimension of absorptive capacity.
Methodology / approach
Searches were performed in the Web of Science database, identifying 618 documents. The extraction and selection of articles followed the stages of literature review by Transfield (2003) and Akobeng (2005), resulting in 12 articles analyzed in depth. The analyzed articles deal with the theme in SMEs in different countries and meet the selection, thematic and quality criteria.
Main results
The results of the descriptive analysis point to a greater use of quantitative methods with the use of surveys as data collection and Spain as the country with the largest number of studies. The thematic analysis demonstrates that in the dimension of acquisition of absorptive capacity, there are processes of internationalization, recognition of the relevance and internalization of internal and external knowledge. Engagement processes were also identified in projects to create common knowledge, regular meetings with external members and generation of information in the external environment to generate new business opportunities.
Theoretical / methodological contributions
The analysis of the articles allowed an advance on the dimension of acquisition of absorptive capacity and its consequences applied to SMEs. Although limited compared to a theoretical-empirical research, the systematic literature review can provide useful recommendations to SMEs on how to take advantage of the external knowledge efficiently, adding to the debate that already exists in this context.
Social / management contributions
SMEs seek collaboration in R&D to develop new products / services, operational innovation, and organizational innovation and also hold meetings to obtain tacit experiential information with local companies and government officials. These companies identify that Networking is important to develop the effective processes to effectively acquire knowledge from outside the companies.