The role of IT practices in facilitating relational and trust capital for superior innovation performance: the case of Taiwanese companies

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the moderating role of information technology (IT) practices in the increase of organizational capacity for generating innovation performance from its relational (internal and external) capital and trust capital.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data has been collected from 102 publicly listed enterprises in Taiwan and is analysed by using symmetric structural equation modelling–partial least squares (SEM–PLS) and asymmetric fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) techniques.FindingsThe findings derived from SEM–PLS show that internal relationships and trust embedded in firms' relationships play a significant role in the innovation performance of Taiwanese enterprises, and reveal a more closed approach to innovation. The results also confirm the important role of IT advancement in amplifying the effect of internal and external relationships and trust formation on innovation performance. One more interesting note, the integration of fsQCA demonstrates several configurations that lead to superior innovation performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was limited to Taiwanese companies with at least 200 employees. It might well be that the economically significant small business sector has distinct relationships with stakeholders, trust building strategies and IT practices, and that innovation performance depends on other macroeconomic effects. This study combines symmetric (SEM–PLS) and asymmetric (fsQCA) techniques to improve our understanding of the complementarities between relational and trust capital, and IT practices, and identify configurations that could yield organizational benefits for innovation outcomes.Practical implicationsThis study provides new knowledge about IT utilization in the workplace which practitioners may use to capitalize on internal and external networks and enhance innovation performance.Originality/valueExploring together intellectual capital (IC) components and IT practices, this study merges IC and knowledge management (KM) streams of literature and adds to the prominent discussion on how IC and technology-based KM together contribute to superior innovation performance. In introducing the notion of equifinality, and testing our hypothesis by applying fsQCA, we also provide new ground for methodological discussions in the field of innovation performance.

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Do mistakes acceptance foster innovation? Polish and US cross-country study of tacit knowledge sharing in IT

“…As tacit knowledge is a source of innovation (Kodama, 2019) and a culture that enables creating a channel of knowledge flows supports tacit knowledge sharing (Mabey et al, 2012;Mabey and Zhao, 2017), such studies are important. Moreover, Cabrilo et al (2018Cabrilo et al ( , 2020 demonstrated the direct and positive influence of intellectual capital on organizational innovativeness in IT. Saint-Onge (1996) noted that tacit knowledge influences organizational intellectual capital.…”

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“…Las relaciones internas y la confianza en ellas tienen una influencia positiva en los resultados de innovación y, junto a las relaciones externas, se ven amplificadas por el avance de la tecnología de la información, que promueve el aumento de la confianza en el rendimiento de las nuevas ideas (Cabrilo et al, 2020).…”

“…La CI constituye un área directiva estratégica que posibilita la gestión del cambio (Leeuwis & Aarts, 2011) y la implantación de una cultura de innovación dentro de las organizaciones (Cabrilo et al, 2020;Recalde & Glaría, 2015). La literatura indica que tiene una importante influencia en la identificación, fidelización, creatividad y productividad (El-Sholkamy & Fischbach, 2019;Mainardes et al, 2019;Men & Yue, 2019;Raj, 140 140 La comunicación interna como área estratégica para la innovación a través de la gestión del cambio y la felicidad organizacional 2020; Rogala & Bialowas, 2016).…”