Good Management Practices and Absorptive Capacity: Impacts on Firms’ Productivity

Abstract

Context: there are few studies that aim to calculate productivity at the microeconomic level and one of the variables that contributes to this is the ability of firms to absorb external knowledge-absorptive capacity. However, another variable is also gaining explanatory power in this direction-that of good management practices. It turns out that studies that deal with these two variables together and that relate them to productivity are not easily found. Objective: the objective of this research is to understand how the interaction between good management practices and the absorptive capacity of firms and the impact on productivity takes place. Method: the multi-case method was used, having been applied in transnational and national industries. Results: the results show that the existence of good management practices acts as an influencer of absorptive capacity, and that this relationship has a positive impact on the productivity of firms. Furthermore, it was revealed that management processes in transnational companies contribute more effectively to absorptive capacity and productivity than in national companies. Conclusions: as a contribution, an analysis model is presented that demonstrates the relationships between the variables studied, showing the importance of good management practices as a determinant for the development of absorptive capacity and the improvement of firms' productivity conditions.