The impact of knowledge absorptive capacity on the success of knowledge transfers in alliances: The mediating role of interorganizational link strength

Innovative development of Ukraine is possible due to the introduction of an effective mechanism for the promotion of commercially attractive scientific ideas and developments, which are produced at universities, into the domestic and international markets. It is extremely difficult for research universities to negotiate the transfer of their developments due to the lack of an extensive technology transfer infrastructure where an information system would be in place to exchange technological requests and proposals. The authors demonstrate a modern toolkit for the transfer of knowledge and technology, which is actively used by the international academic community and contributes to the consideration of modern specifics in the organization of innovative marketing in research universities. In the article, the authors analyze the role of social and communication tools, namely media and online social platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or YouTube, or other communication search platforms, including Enterprise Europe Network in the technological transfer of world research universities and Ukrainian university practice. The dominance of positive features in the use of media tools for technology transfer proves its viability for the Ukrainian market. Using the tools of media sector it was proposed to develop a modern strategy for commercializing the results of innovative activities of research universities. The article offers considering the process of bringing to commercially attractive results of experimental research at universities based on the methodology of network marketing and education.

Knowledge sharing in MSMEs refers to sharing information, skills, or experiences between business owners, employees, customers, or other parties such as mentors, business communities, or educational institutions. This study aims to analyze the relationship between innovation performance and knowledge-sharing outcomes within handicraft MSMEs in Medan, Indonesia. It highlights the role of absorptive capacity as a crucial intermediary, emphasizing its importance in enhancing the connection between shared knowledge and improved innovation performance. A quantitative methodology is applied in alignment with the study’s objectives, as the research involves numerical and statistical data. Methods for collecting the data included interviews and questionnaires. The total population for this study comprises 165 managers/owners of handicraft MSMEs in Medan, Indonesia. The analysis is conducted using the SEM-PLS technique. The findings indicate that knowledge-donating and knowledge-collecting, as pillars of knowledge sharing, are key in bolstering absorptive capacity and advancing innovation performance. This relationship is statistically supported with a p-value of less than 0.05. Indirectly, knowledge-donating significantly affects innovation performance through absorptive capacity (p < 0.05), and knowledge-collecting significantly affects innovation performance through absorptive capacity in handicraft MSMEs in Medan, Indonesia (p < 0.05). Based on this study’s results, MSMEs in the craft sector can increase innovation by building a culture of knowledge sharing internally among employees and externally with business partners, communities, or clients.

Acknowledgment
The study was funded in 2024 under the Basic Research - Regular (PF-R) category by the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. The administration of the Faculty of Economics and Business, as well as the staff of the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) at Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara, were also thanked, along with the other levels of administration at the university.

According to social psychology researchers, categorizing a new product may involve the formation of automatic judgments at the subconscious level. This study aimed to ascertain if attitudes might be formed unintentionally when categorizing a new hybrid product under the effect of associated sensory inputs. Data were collected using an explicit and implicit approach: an explicit categorization measure, an explicit attitude scale, and the “Single Category Implicit Association Test’’ (SC-IAT), from 280 Moroccan university students having a normal sense of smell and taste, under the effects of two types of sensory stimuli (smell and taste) and according to two learning conditions linked to two categories of existing products. The data were then computed and processed using the “Statistical Package for Social Sciences” and the “Inquisit Lab’’. The study’s findings revealed that the respondents were able to categorize the new product into one of the targeted categories (depending on the learning condition of each category) after exposure to sensory stimuli (olfactory and gustatory stimuli) related to this product and were also able to form an implicit and explicit attitude towards it. The occurrence of the categorization process and the formation of these two distinct types of attitudes can be explained by the olfactory and gustatory sensory stimulation during the experiment, which helped the participants recognize the basic domain of the new product and then transfer knowledge and affects to it.