Strategic Foresight and Exaptation: The Role of Boundary-spanning Search and Absorption Capacity

Abstract

Abstract: Exaptation is an important source of enterprise innovation, but the existing literature pays little attention to it. In this paper, a moderated mediating model is formed by introducing two variables- absorptive capacity and boundary-spanning search - to explore the influence of strategic foresight on exaptation, focusing on the mediating role of boundary-spanning search and the moderating role of absorptive capacity. The results show that: strategic foresight has a significant positive impact on exaptation, and boundary-spanning search mediates the relationship between strategic foresight and exaptation; potential absorptive capacity and realized absorptive capacity strengthen the relationship between boundary-spanning search and exaptation, and potential absorptive capacity and realized absorptive capacity regulates the mediating role of boundary-spanning search. The research conclusion is an extension of the trigger mechanism for adaptation, which helps to reveal the formation path of adaptation from a strategic perspective and is of great significance for enterprises to promote the practice of adaptation.

Key words: strategic foresight, boundary-spanning search, exaptation, absorption capacity

Tang Chaoyong, Sun Ruili, Shi Yongzhi, Chen Wanming. Strategic Foresight and Exaptation: The Role of Boundary-spanning Search and Absorption Capacity[J]. Management Review, 2025, 37(6): 90-103.

References

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