Through collaborative innovation networks (CINs), SMEs access valuable knowledge which requires the deployment of their absorptive capacity (ACAP) to be efficiently used. A small and medium enterprise (SME) absorbs this knowledge to fulfil reciprocal learning for achieving the network innovation goal, but also one-way learning to individually improve its performance. Nevertheless, no study explains how these opposing learnings unfold for SMEs in CINs to guide their ACAP deployment. Based on three cases of CINs including SMEs and two focus groups, we propose a characterisation of ACAP supporting SMEs’ learnings within CINs. As a result, an SME deploys acquisition, assimilation and application actions and attitudes to contribute to the CIN’s setting-up and operational stages, while fulfilling one-way learning. These practices have different focuses and intensity according to the network stage and the SME’s contextual setting. Hence, this study highlights the peculiarities of ACAP that enable SMEs in CINs manage the interplay between reciprocal and one-way learnings.

中文翻译：

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表征支持中小企业在协作创新网络中学习的吸收能力：来自多层次案例研究的见解

通过协作创新网络 (CIN)，中小企业获取宝贵的知识，这需要部署其吸收能力 (ACAP) 才能得到有效利用。中小型企业 (SME) 吸收这些知识以实现互惠学习以实现网络创新目标，同时也通过单向学习来单独提高其绩效。然而，没有研究解释这些相反的学习如何为 CIN 中的 SME 展开以指导其 ACAP 部署。基于包括中小企业和两个焦点小组在内的三个 CIN 案例，我们提出了支持中小企业在 CIN 中学习的 ACAP 的特征。因此，SME 部署获取、同化和应用行动和态度，为 CIN 的建立和运营阶段做出贡献，同时实现单向学习。根据网络阶段和中小企业的背景设置，这些实践具有不同的重点和强度。因此，本研究强调了 ACAP 的特殊性，它使 CIN 中的 SME 能够管理互惠和单向学习之间的相互作用。