Process management and technological innovation: an empirical study of the information and electronic industry in Taiwan

Abstract

This study examines how process management implementation and product quality affect technological innovation in Taiwan's information and electronics industry. This study also resolves inconsistencies in earlier research concerning the effects of the age and size of a firm on technological innovation. By testing the associated hypotheses after dividing technological innovation into process and product innovations, the empirical results herein indicate that a firm's implementation of process management promotes process innovation activity, and that product quality is positively correlated with product innovation. Hierarchical regression analyses reveal that the age and size of the firm affect only process innovation and not product innovation. The authors assert that successful management of technological innovation may require that product and process innovations be carefully evaluated. Different strategic choices between emphasising product versus process innovations may differently transform companies.