Understanding the relation between IT competence and the commercial success of innovation

Abstract

In order to improve the commercial success of innovation, many companies have developed strategies that include investing heavily in information technologies. However, certain research works challenge its positive relationship with business performance and suggest that others elements may mediate the link. This paper proposes the commercial success of innovation as a dependent variable of information technology competency. Based on the literature on dynamic capabilities’ view we propose that internal and external learning competences play a key role in the relationship between information technology competency and the commercial success of innovation. We used structural equations to test the hypotheses in a sample of 186 companies of the ceramic tile industry. The results suggest that IT competency improve the commercial success of innovation and this relationship is fully mediated by internal and external learning competences.