Collaboration competency and partner match for e‐service product innovation through knowledge integration mechanisms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the relationships among collaboration competency, partner match, knowledge integration mechanisms (KIMs), and e‐service product innovation. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 118 financial firms in Taiwan. IT managers were chosen as the source for data collection. Furthermore, partial least squares (PLS) was used to address sophisticated data analysis issues. Findings – Collaboration competency and partner match relate positively to KIMs, which in turn relate positively to e‐service innovation. In addition, partner match relates positively to collaboration competency. Also, the findings show support for the mediating effect of KIMs on the relationship between collaboration competency and e‐service product innovation. Research limitations/implications – First, KIMs are the central mechanism through which collaboration competency enhances e‐service product innovation is novel and noteworthy. Second, the study can help researchers to better comprehend partner match and analyze it as a partner‐led enabling mechanism. Third, this study extends an important direction for service product innovation research that lies in adopting an e‐service innovation perspective. Practical implications – IT managers should mobilize collaboration competency in conjunction with KIMs and should highlight the centrality of KIMs in e‐service product innovation. Managers should examine whether the firm has the necessary technologies to develop particular levels of new e‐service products and to determine which technologies need to be developed. They would also need to consistently and synergistically align their strategic innovation choices. Originality/value – The findings of this study fill the gap in the service management literature that currently fails in examining these determinants that affect e‐service product innovation. First, the paper helps to clarify the nature of e‐service product innovation. By studying de Brentani's classification of innovations, the paper views e‐service product innovation as two types of radical and incremental innovations that affect the ability of a firm to deliver desirable new services/products to customers via the internet. Second, based on Gallouj and Weinstein's work, the paper addresses the visibility (i.e., tangible or intangible of technical characteristics) and the degree of standardization (i.e., specifying service characteristics, making service characteristics less hazy and more concrete, and giving service characteristics a shape), which constitute innovations in e‐service products.