University absorptive capacity: Normative and perceived assessments

Abstract

Knowledge management in universities is a dual process combining continuous learning and development of academic staff with the simultaneous transfer of knowledge to students. Collective capabilities and motivation of university employees to absorb and effectively apply knowledge underlie the so-called university absorptive capacity. However, characteristics perceived by workers and the level of absorptive capacity may contrast with the assessments based on university performance standards. The paper proposes and tests a dual method for judging on university absorptive capacity based on normative and perceived assessments. Methodologically, the study rests on knowledge management, the fundamental theoretical framework that covers the concept of absorptive capacity of an organization. Among the research methods are comparative analysis of university performance indicators and economic statistics. Empirical evidence includes data from the survey of 187 academic staff members of Ural Federal University (Ekaterinburg, Russia) and the Monitoring of Efficiency of Higher Educational Institutions in the RF in 2022–2023. Having performed content analysis, we identified the following evaluation parameters: the current level of employees’ knowledge and the potential for knowledge absorption in the organization. The first part of the methodology presents an algorithm for comparing the growth rates of normative performance indicators of the university in question with those of analogous universities. The second part deals with assessing absorptive capacity based on academic staff’s perceptions. The testing results indicate that there is a discrepancy between the normative and perceived assessments, which allowed us to propose a set of measures for adjusting the HR management model in a university.