【2016】Information Technology Capabilities, Service Innovation and Financial Performance

Information Technology Capabilities, Service Innovation and Financial Performance: A Comparative Study of Manufacturing and Service Firms

作者：陈猛，刘和福

内容提要：This study investigates the impact of IT capabilities on service innovation and financial performance in both manufacturing and service firms. Drawing on resource-advantage theory, service-dominant logic and existing literature on organizational exploration and exploitation, this study attempts to compare how IT capabilities (IT exploration and IT exploitation) influence service innovation (exploratory and exploitative innovation) differently. Further, this study compares and contrasts the differences of the relationships among IT capabilities, service innovation and financial performance between manufacturing and service firms. Using data from 121 manufacturing firms and 165 service firms in China, this study finds that IT capabilities are positively associated with service innovation. Specifically, IT exploration has a stronger impact on exploitative service innovation than on exploratory service innovation in both manufacturing and service firms, and IT exploitation has a stronger impact on exploitative service innovation than on exploratory service innovation in service firms, but not in manufacturing firms. Exploratory and exploitative service innovation is positively related to financial performance in service firms, while only exploratory service innovation positively influences financial performance in manufacturing firms. Further, the comparison between manufacturing and service firms indicates that the impact of IT exploration on service innovation is stronger in manufacturing firms than in service firms. The impact of IT exploitation on exploratory service innovation is stronger in manufacturing companies than in service firms, whilst its impact on exploitative service innovation is stronger in service firms. Additionally, the impact of exploratory service innovation on financial performance is stronger in manufacturing firms than in service firms, while the impact of exploitative service innovation on financial performance is stronger in service firms. The findings deepen the comprehending of the impact of IT capabilities on service innovation and financial performance in manufacturing and service firms.

关键词：IT capabilities; service innovation; exploration; exploitation; service-dominant logic; resource-advantage theory

作者单位：中国科学技术大学