Building Technological Innovation Capabilities: Enhancing Technological Innovation Performance

Abstract

Technological innovation capabilities (TICs) support firm level resource integration and technologic innovation strategies by harmonizing firm's different competences and organizational assets with the external environment (Yam et al., in press). Prior research on TIC suggests that the effective exploitation of firm resources, especially technological knowledge, and the accumulation of TIC contributes to innovation outputs (Yam et al., in press), which in turn has significant impact on technological innovation performance (TIP) and competitive advantage. Although some studies in the literature presents the relationship between TIC and TIP, the impact of TIC on TIP and competitive advantage constitutes a gap in the literature. Furthermore, even though TIC is considered as an attractive research domain by se, its detailed analysis based on a theoretical background especially from organizational capabilities framework in the turbulent market of today's hyper-competitive environment points a gap not widely researched in the literature. In this scope, the concepts of technology, innovation, technological innovation and the importance of these concepts have been explained first based on the literature. Secondly, the technological innovation strategies that businesses require to survive in the competitive environment and the respective TICs that they can build for this purpose have been presented. Hypotheses have been developed by evaluating the idea that businesses can increase their technological innovation performances by gaining these qualifications and the effects of gaining these qualifications providing businesses with a competitive advantage. In order to test the provided hypotheses, the data obtained through the 315 surveys conducted in the IT-telecommunication sector have been analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 4.0. A four step approach have been followed in the analysis of the data obtained through the methodology stage of the research, particularly; 1-) second-order confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), 2-) reliability and validity analysis, 3-) correlation analysis, and 4-) structural equations modeling analysis.