Understanding the Different Priorities of Web 2.0 Technologies for Knowledge Acquisition and Assimilation for Developing an Organization's Potential Absorptive Capacity Completed Research Paper

The aim of this paper is to explore the relative importance of web 2.0 tools for an organizations' ability to identify and assimilate valuable external information. Theoretically, we relate these knowledge processing abilities to organizational absorptive capacity. As the usage of Web 2.0 tools to manage knowledge in organizations is becoming common practice, we need to understand which tool supports what kind of knowledge processing activity best. For this purpose, we developed a research model linking a Web 2.0 taxonomy with multiple criteria feeding into Potential Absorptive Capacity (PACAP). Based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), we allowed experts with different roles and backgrounds to assess the relative importance of different Web 2.0 tools. Our results offer valuable implications for conducting effective knowledge-acquisition and assimilation practices in organizations based on peer-driven networking and knowledge sharing in the Web 2.0 world.