A Study of Innovation Activities in Software and Computer Services Companies

Abstract

This paper analyzes the results of a study of innovation activities in software and computing services companies. We propose a new model which takes into account the role played by several factors and firms’ resources in the development of innovative activities, exploring the relationships between a set of organizational, technological, financial and information-based resources, as well as other aspects such as cooperation with other agents and companies.We employ a Structural Equation Model and the PLS technique in order to validate the theoretical model proposed in this research. The data come from the Spanish National Statistics Institute’s Survey on Firms’ Technological Innovation, and the sample is composed by 823 observations referred to firms in the sector of software and computer services.The main results show that human resources (R&D and higher education personnel) is the most important factor that positively affects R+D activities, followed by financial resources (R&D expenses) and contingent factors (firm’s size and type of market). At the same time R&D activities, information management and technological resources have a positive effect on product and process innovation. Finally, R+D activities, innovation results and information management have a positive influence on business results.