Performance effects of aligning service innovation and the strategic use of information technology

The research proposes a service innovation alignment model within which service innovation and strategic use of information technology coexist in evaluating performance, and demonstrates that the alignment has significant impacts on service innovation performance as well as business performance.

Abstract

In the current dramatically changing business environment, innovation capability is the key to attaining competitive advantages for firms. Drawing on the concept of alignment, the present research proposes a service innovation alignment model within which service innovation and strategic use of information technology (IT) coexist in evaluating performance. Data for hypotheses testing are collected from top-ranked service companies in Taiwan. A total of 165 surveys were collected. Performance implications of alignment are examined using fit as covariation approach. The findings demonstrate that the alignment between service innovation and the strategic use of IT has significant impacts on service innovation performance as well as business performance. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014