Technology strategy and performance: a study of information technology service providers from selected Asian countries

The provision of information technology (IT) services to support a wide range of information and communication technology (ICT) products has experienced rapid growth in recent years, particularly in less developed countries in Asia. This paper develops a conceptual model to test the impacts of the technology strategy of IT service providers on two measures of performance based on the experience of a sample of 98 IT firms from Korea, China, Thailand and the Philippines. It is found that technology strategy related to the adoption and diffusion of technology contributes positively to both performance measures. While the technology capabilities of firms, both internal and external, are important for financial performance, internal technological capabilities are more effective for the firm’s response to market changes. The technology competence of employees reflected by their education levels and the availability of in-house training are also found to be crucial for financial performance. The overall results suggest that technology strategy contributes significantly towards the performance of IT service providers but the impacts of different strategies on the financial and strategic performance of firms vary markedly.

[1]  Sanjaya Lall,et al.  Competitiveness, Technology and Skills , 2001 .

[2]  S. Slater,et al.  Management Influences on Export Performance: A Review of the Empirical Literature 1978‐1988 , 1989 .

[3]  Shaoming Zou,et al.  The determinants of export performance: a review of the empirical literature between 1987 and 1997 , 1998 .

[4]  Sanjaya Lall,et al.  Learning from the Asian Tigers: Studies in Technology and Industrial Policy , 1996 .

[5]  Dieter Ernst,et al.  Competing in The Electronics Industry. The Experience of Newly Industrialising Economies , 1992 .

[6]  R. Garud,et al.  TRANSFORMATIVE CAPACITY: CONTINUAL STRUCTURING BY INTERTEMPORAL TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER , 1994 .

[7]  Helmut Kasper,et al.  On a Theory of Export Performance: Personal and Organizational Determinants of Export Trade Activities Observed in Small and Medium-Sized Firms , 1991 .

[8]  P. Zarembka.  Frontiers in econometrics , 1973 .

[9]  William L. Fuerst,et al.  Information technology and sustained competitive advantage: a resource-based analysis , 1995 .

[10]  T. Clark,et al.  Exchange Rate Pass-Through and International Pricing Strategy: A Conceptual Framework and Research Propositions , 1999 .

[11]  Michael Hobday,et al.  Innovation in East Asia: The Challenge to Japan , 1996, The Journal of Asian Studies.

[12]  Erik Brynjolfsson,et al.  Information Technology and Productivity: A Review of the Literature , 1996, Adv. Comput..

[13]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON LEARNING AND INNOVATION , 1990 .

[14]  N. Capon,et al.  Marketing and Technology: A Strategic Coalignment , 1987 .

[15]  Lilach Nachum.  United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD): World Investment Report 2000: Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions and Development United Nations, New York and Geneva 2000. (Biblio Service) , 2001 .

[16]  Stephen Roper,et al.  Innovation and export performance: evidence from the UK and German manufacturing plants , 2002 .

[17]  John A. Mathews,et al.  Tiger Technology: The ‘Real’ East Asian Miracle , 2000 .

[18]  T. C. Powell,et al.  Information technology as competitive advantage: the role of human , 1997 .

[19]  M. Smith,et al.  Recovery and beyond. , 2008, Mental health today.

[20]  John A. Mathews,et al.  Tiger Technology: Contents , 2000 .

[21]  Bengt-Åke Lundvall,et al.  National Systems of Innovation: towards a theory of innovation and interactive learning London: Pint , 1995 .

[22]  Lakis C. Kaounides,et al.  Science, Technology, and Global Competitive Advantage: The Strategic Implications of Emerging Technologies for Corporations and Nations , 1999 .

[23]  D. Ernst.  Technology and Global Competition: The Challenge Ahead for Newly Industrializing Economies , 1990 .

[24]  Mohan Tanniru,et al.  Organizational learning and resource‐based theory: an integrative model , 1996 .

[25]  S. Cavusgil,et al.  Marketing Strategy-Performance Relationship: An Investigation of the Empirical Link in Export Market Ventures , 1994 .

[26]  Constance E. Helfat,et al.  Product Sequencing: Co-Evolution of Knowledge, Capabilities and Products , 2000 .

[27]  L. Mytelka.  Competition, Innovation and Competitiveness in Developing Countries , 2000 .

[28]  Rajiv Kumar,et al.  Sustaining the International Competitive Advantage of Asian Firms: A Conceptual Framework and Research Propositions , 2001 .

[29]  Gregory P. Prastacos,et al.  The Resource Based View of the Firm and Innovation: Identification of Critical Linkages , 2003 .

[30]  C. Freeman.  Economics of Industrial Innovation , 1975 .

[31]  D. McFadden.  Conditional logit analysis of qualitative choice behavior , 1972 .

[32]  Nagesh Kumar,et al.  Technology, firm size and export behaviour in developing countries: The case of Indian enterprises , 1994 .

[33]  A. Madhok.  COST, VALUE AND FOREIGN MARKET ENTRY MODE: THE TRANSACTION AND THE FIRM , 1997 .

[34]  J. Mathews,et al.  Tiger Technology: The Creation of a Semiconductor Industry in East Asia , 2000 .

[35]  G. Hamel.  Leading the Revolution , 2000 .