Knowledge sharing and co-opetition: Turning absorptive capacity into effectiveness in consumer electronics industries

Abstract

Despite the literature regarding the potential effects of absorptive capacity on performance, a problem in the extant literature is that few researchers have reported on how such potential effects could be realized. To resolve the problem, we argued that there are chained mediating relationships among other factors in the absorptive-performance relationship. Data were collected from 522 new product development teams in top 30 consumer electronics manufacturers in Taiwan. Structural equation modeling results revealed that: first, absorptive capacity positively influences team knowledge sharing, which positively influences both cooperation and competition (sharing-stimulated co-opetition), which then lead to increased team effectiveness. This study is among the first to contribute by investigating absorptive capacity's impact on team-level effectiveness; it achieved this by examining the abovementioned mediating relationships. Practically, we found that absorptive capacity could be influential on team effectiveness, if the team exercise good knowledge sharing activities that in turn stimulate co-opetition relations among workers. Collectively, the dynamics of absorptive capacity, knowledge sharing, and co-opetition can form a positive circle for a team's sustainable effectiveness.