How do a company's information technology competences influence its ability to innovate?

What is it about?

This paper describes research that explores how an organization’s information technology (IT) competences influence its ability to innovate. It draws on prior research to describe stages of the innovation process and to identify several IT competences that have been linked to innovation success. Then, examining innovation at three case study sites, it demonstrates how IT competences can influence the success of innovation at various stages of the innovation process. The authors conclude that IT competences in information and knowledge management, project management, collaboration and communication, and business involvement are likely to improve an organization’s ability to innovate.

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Why is it important?

For researchers, the paper proposes a model relating an organization’s ability to innovate to its IT competences. For managers, it identifies IT competences that should be cultivated to support the process of innovation. Organizations that want to be innovative should cultivate the identified IT competences.