The realization of these capabilities, however, is dependent on the
development of associated social integration mechanisms for knowledge sharing, integration
and creation, and routines for innovation, learning and renewal. The research presented
here develops a theoretical framework to explore these ideas and to provide a
foundation for future research to better understand organizational strategies to: (1) reduce
the gap between the potential and realized knowledge capabilities enabled by ERP systems,
and (2) develop routines to utilize these capabilities for sustained business process
innovation. To this end, we build upon and extend the model of absorptive capacity by
Zahra and George (2002) to introduce a new theoretical framework – ERP Systems and
Business Process Absorptive Capacity. In alignment with the original framework, business
process absorptive capacity is viewed as a dynamic capability influencing the firm’s ability
to create and deploy knowledge to build its business processes. The framework also incorporates
insights from prior research on ERP systems from a knowledge perspective and
studies on boundary spanning/knowledge brokering and information systems