A Strategic View of IT and Innovativeness

We conduct a much-needed empirical investigation of a widely accepted but under-examined factor regarded as essential for organizational innovativeness. This factor, the organizational view of information technology (IT) as a strategic investment, is expected to result in greater innovativeness than a non-strategic view of IT. We address the surprising lack of empirical validation of this expectation and find empirical support for it. Although a strategic view of IT contributes to greater innovativeness, its explanatory power is limited. Our major finding challenges future researchers to extend theory by incorporating additional factors beyond the strategic view of IT. Our findings also caution managers to be aware that additional factors matter.

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