Identifying the factors affecting the innovation capacity of Iranian ICT firms

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify innovation capacity in Information and communication technology-based firms. In this descriptive and analytical study, the research method was quantitative-qualitative, which was performed in two parts. The first part was done qualitatively through a literature review and interviews with nine policy makers, experts, and managers of companies in the field of information and communication technology. In the second part, the model obtained from the previous stage was surveyed by distributing a questionnaire among 275 companies active in this field to assess the validity of the proposed model. In this research, the most important organizational factors affecting innovation capacity were collaboration and communication, resources of the idea, individual factors, organizational culture, strategies and technology management, knowledge management and organizational learning, and allocation of resources to innovation. In addition, the environmental factors affecting the innovation capacity were respectively institutional support, macroeconomic factors, and the firm location. The innovation outcomes, market outcomes, financial outcomes, and human outcomes were also the most important indicators of innovation capacity measurement. Additionally, environmental factors in promoting the innovation capacity of ICT firms were more important than organizational factors. The reason for this significance seems to be the high impacts of economic growth, stability, competitiveness, and government support for innovation on ICT NTBFs.