In todays changing environment knowledge and technology are the basis of competition especially for knowledgebased organizations These organizations need to apply new knowledge in order to fulfill their business goals A part of this knowledge is derived from external resources Hence the ability to exploit external knowledge is a critical factor for the innovative capabilities of organizations This ability is called absorptive capacity which has different levels from the individual level to national level in the literature Considering the importance of the absorptive capacity theory this study attempts to analyze this concept with related theories Therefore some existing theories related to this concept such as learning dynamic capabilities innovation strategic directions knowledgebased view managerial cognition and coexistence theories are examined in this study and the relationship of these theories with absorptive capacity is posed
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