How does cultural intelligence influence the relationships between potential and realised absorptive capacity and innovativeness? Evidence from Poland

Cultural intelligence underpins the interaction between firms and their cultural environments as the domain of external sources that are explored and utilised for innovation through absorptive capacity. This research seeks to answer the question of if and how cultural intelligence moderates the links between innovativeness and potential and realised absorptive capacity. We test our hypotheses based on data from 215 firms operating in Poland. We demonstrate that cultural intelligence strengthens the linkage between potential absorptive capacity and innovativeness that highlights cultural intelligence as an important enabler of exploring new and diverse external knowledge sources. We discuss cultural intelligence concept in relation to strategic management and reveal its contingent role in innovativeness.