Absorptive capacity has been marked as one of the most important capabilities of Multinational Corporations for effective management of knowledge. To address calls for research on micro-level origins of the concept, this paper focuses on the determinants of individual-level absorptive capacity. We examine the extent to which individuals’ capability to recognize, assimilate and exploit new knowledge from the environment is shaped by different forms of work motivation (i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic), overall ability, exposure to diverse country contexts and personal characteristics. Drawing on and extending the Motivation–Ability–Opportunity framework, we develop and test a set of hypotheses. Using a unique dataset collected from 648 individuals in a multinational corporation, we show that individuals’ intrinsic motivation and overall ability are the key antecedents of absorptive capacity. In contrast, extrinsic motivation does not emerge as a significant predictor. We find that past international assignments to distant countries could be detrimental to individuals’ absorptive capacity. However, our results suggest that for those individuals who are open to new experiences, assignments to distant countries become useful opportunity for absorptive capacity development. These findings contribute to existing literature by showing effects of alternative types of motivation and underscoring the importance of using selective assignment when considering exposure to diverse country context as a tool for employee capability development.

中文翻译：

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什么促进了跨国公司的个人吸收能力？扩展的动机，能力和机会框架

吸收能力已被标记为跨国公司有效管理知识的最重要能力之一。为了满足对这一概念的微观层次起源的研究的需求，本文着重于个人层次吸收能力的决定因素。我们研究了个人从环境中识别，吸收和利用新知识的能力在多大程度上受不同形式的工作动机（即内在和外在），整体能力，暴露于不同国家背景和个人特征的影响。利用和通过扩展动机-能力-机会框架，我们开发并检验了一组假设。使用从一家跨国公司的648个人中收集的独特数据集，我们显示出个人的内在动机和整体能力是吸收能力的关键先决条件。相比之下，外部动机并未成为重要的预测指标。我们发现，过去向遥远国家进行国际任务可能会损害个人的吸收能力。但是，我们的结果表明，对于那些乐于接受新经验的人，分配到遥远的国家成为吸收能力发展的有用机会。