What is the role of IT in innovation? A bibliometric analysis of research development in IT innovation

Zhang, Xi; Chen, Hui; Wang, Weiguang; Pablos, Patricia Ordóñez de

doi:10.1080/0144929x.2016.1212403

Cited by 65 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…This problem becomes even more severe when one takes into consideration that service innovation often happens ad hoc, that most firms do not have a department dedicated to service development, and that service employees develop a service for specific customers without a link to the firm's overall strategy regarding innovation activities (e.g., Blindenbach‐Driessen and Van den Ende, ; Ettlie and Rosenthal, ; Johne and Storey, ). Finally, information processing becomes more difficult due to the trend to develop and provide services in service ecosystems, which increases the amount of information and the efforts required to coordinate the information flows and activities between the partners (De Vries, ; Zhang, Chen, Wang, and Ordóñez de Pablos, ).…”

Section: Conceptual Framework and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, this study identified the firm's specific business focus as a key contingency factor. Existing studies about information processing theory and (service) innovation largely ignore the role of servitization (e.g., Zhang et al, ), although the business focus determines a firm's information processing requirements, applied practices, and achieved performance. This article contributes to the literature about information processing by showing that an increasing degree of servitization leads to a lower IT use intensity, which hampers the required internal and external information processing capabilities.…”

Section: Implications and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Use and Efficacy of Information Technology in Innovation Processes: The Specific Role of Servitization

Kroh¹,

Luetjen²,

Globocnik³

et al. 2018

J of Product Innov Manag

100

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Innovation activities and, particularly, service innovations, impose high demands on a firm's information processing capabilities. IT tools are supposed to support internal and external information flows, thereby improving a firm's information processing capabilities. However, past research is indecisive about how IT tools influence innovation performance. Furthermore, past research has not considered that services have an increasingly relevant role in a firm's innovation portfolio that can complicate information processing. This study therefore draws on information processing theory and service innovation literature to develop a conceptual model that explains how IT use intensity—depending on the firm's business focus—affects innovation program performance. By using a cross‐industry, multi‐informant sample of the innovation programs of 116 firms, which were collected from 887 informants, this article provides empirical evidence that (i) intensive IT use in order to exchange information with internal and external stakeholders improves the firm‐wide market knowledge, which in turn has a positive impact on a firm's innovation program performance; (ii) the performance impact of market knowledge becomes stronger with increasing degrees of servitization; (iii) a higher degree of servitization reduces IT's use intensity. This research demonstrates the dilemma that servitized firms face: Their business focus hinders the use of IT tools, although the latter will enable them to gain more benefits from the improved market knowledge they create. Practitioner Points Intensive IT use positively influences the firm‐wide innovation performance. The intensive use of IT tools to strengthen internal information flows and IT tools to support exchange with external stakeholders increase a firm's market knowledge, which enhances the innovation program performance. Service innovations have higher information requirements than product innovations and profit therefore more from intensive IT use, but services' complexity hinders IT implementation. Firms with a higher degree of servitization use less IT, although they can profit more from the market knowledge IT tools create. Servitized firms need to install a flexible, modular, and open IT system for efficient IT use and to include all relevant internal and external stakeholders.

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Section: Conceptual Framework and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use and Efficacy of Information Technology in Innovation Processes: The Specific Role of Servitization

Kroh¹,

Luetjen²,

Globocnik³

et al. 2018

J of Product Innov Manag

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Google has attracted and retained a lot of creative talents in doing so, and quickly grew into a monopoly in the online space. The success of Google evidences the fundamental role of an internal social network in boosting innovation.Numerous studies have provided evidence on how internal resources, such as human resources [18], technological capability [19], and so on, would affect a firm's innovation. Liu, Gong, Zhou and Huang [18], for example, investigated whether, how and when different types of a firm's human resource system jointly influence the employee's creativity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous studies have provided evidence on how internal resources, such as human resources [18], technological capability [19], and so on, would affect a firm's innovation. Liu, Gong, Zhou and Huang [18], for example, investigated whether, how and when different types of a firm's human resource system jointly influence the employee's creativity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Internal Social Network, Absorptive Capacity and Innovation: Evidence from New Ventures in China

2018

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This research investigates the impact of the internal social network on new venture's innovation by building a comprehensive structural equation modeling (SEM) that integrates three streams of research: internal social network, innovation, and absorptive capacity. Based on a sample of 279 new ventures from China, the current study's results show that absorptive capacity plays a full mediating effect in the relationship of the internal social network and innovation. Particularly, among the skill set of absorptive capacity, a mere skill of knowledge acquisition does not guarantee an enhancement of new venture's innovation. For new ventures to better utilize the social capital generated by the internal network in the process of innovation, they must focus more on the skills of knowledge digestion and knowledge application. The authors further separate the new ventures into two different sub-samples: the new venture supported by mature enterprises (M-type) and the independent new venture (I-type). This study's findings indicate that the effect of the social network on innovation through knowledge digestion is greater in the M-type sample than in the I-type sample; internal social network heterogeneity in general plays a less important role in improving a new venture's innovation than internal social network density, for both M-type and I-type new ventures.Among the numerous studies and reports on innovation, a general belief was that innovation processes are interactive processes [8]. The "interactive" here actually suggests a "social network" concept. To have an innovation project work out, it requires an active involvement of personnel from different organizational bases [9], such as scientists, designers, marketers, end users, and even external partners. According to Felix et al. [10], network could provide a good cross-functional structure for firms to implement new initiatives that need joint work from all employees and departments, such as social media marketing, innovation and so on. Previous research has greatly emphasized the effect of inter-organizational or external networks on firms' innovation [3,[11][12][13][14][15], as external partners might provide a variety of supports to the innovative firm [16]. However, the fact that firms innovate based on their internal structure [17] is somewhat neglected; the generation of new ideas often starts within the firm and the implementation is necessarily controlled by the firm itself. Google is a typical example of an organization that is committed to utilizing "internal social capital", encouraging its employees to innovate from within rather than looking outside for new ideas. Google has attracted and retained a lot of creative talents in doing so, and quickly grew into a monopoly in the online space. The success of Google evidences the fundamental role of an internal social network in boosting innovation.Numerous studies have provided evidence on how internal resources, such as human resources [18], technological capability [19], and so on, would affect a firm's...

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“…Through the analysis of literature and empirical research on human resource management, information technologies, innovation, workplace, satisfaction, and knowledge management, managers can visualize the big potential of knowledge management and information technologies to develop innovative products and services for companies as well as help to efficiently manage key organizational resources like human resources (Lytras & Ordóñez de Pablos, ; Xiao, Zhang, & Ordóñez de Pablos, ; Zhang, Chen, Wang, & Ordóñez de Pablos, ; Zhang, Gao, Yan, & Ordóñez de Pablos, ; Zhao & Ordóñez de Pablos, ; Zhao, Ordóñez de Pablos, & Qi, ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunities for information technologies and knowledge management to answer emerging challenges for manufacturing and services industries in the digital economy

Pablos

Lytras

Visvizi

et al. 2018

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What is the role of IT in innovation? A bibliometric analysis of research development in IT innovation

Cited by 65 publications

References 80 publications

Use and Efficacy of Information Technology in Innovation Processes: The Specific Role of Servitization

Use and Efficacy of Information Technology in Innovation Processes: The Specific Role of Servitization

Internal Social Network, Absorptive Capacity and Innovation: Evidence from New Ventures in China

Opportunities for information technologies and knowledge management to answer emerging challenges for manufacturing and services industries in the digital economy

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