How Much “Talent” is Needed for Organizational Learning? A Study of Labor Market Entrants in an Innovation-oriented Country

摘要

While absorptive capacity helps companies to learn better, the intangible nature of absorptive capacity indicates its psychological nature. This paper is the first to examine the phenomenon at the individual level from a psychological perspective. Quantitative perceptional pre-tested questionnaires were used with 1,509 student respondents. A similar psychological profile is suitable for most absorptive capacity components (“acquisition ”, “assimilation ” and “exploitation”), i.e. an achievement-oriented, open-minded bold team worker, and only the “transformation” component of absorptive capacity requires prior experience with complexity, combined with an open-minded non-pleasure orientation. The study shows that traits appear to influence how learning takes place more than values.