The Mediating Role of Absorptive Capacity

Much of prior research on organizational learning studied the role of firm¿s absorptive capacity. While there is an implicit research consensus on the definitions and outcomes of absorptive capacity, researchers do not seem to have reached a collective understanding of the process by which organizations become able to absorb external knowledge and then produce valuable outcomes. With this purpose we identify a well reviewed valuable outcome by the literature, i.e. the relation between climate and commitment, and we attempt to investigate the mediating role of absorptive capacity on the relation between organizational climate and commitment. The research model we propose was tested on a sample of 143 individuals belonging to some Italian organizations. Our findings show that absorptive capacity can act as leverage for achieving a higher level of employees¿ commitment to the organization.