The Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing on Information Technology and Innovation

Purpose: The purposes of this paper are to examine the relationships among the information technology, knowledge sharing and firm’s innovation, and while the knowledge sharing as mediating effect is also simultaneously investigated on the relationship between information technology and firm’s innovation. Design/methodology/approach: In this research, the quantitative method was mainly employed. First, the research model was constructed by the literature review process. Then, the hypotheses were launched and tested by the survey method. The questionnaires were used as the tool in collecting data. A total of 224 questionnaires from the herbal manufacturing companies were considered. Multiple regression and Bootstrapping method were employed to test these hypotheses. Findings: The finding showed that the information technology has positively influences on both knowledge sharing and innovation. With regard to knowledge sharing, the findings showed that it has positively influence on innovation, while it also has positively mediated influence on the relationship between information technology and firm’s innovation. Research limitation/implications: Data collection of this study was primary focused on herbal manufacturing industry. Collecting data of variety industries would gain more understanding of this relationship. Furthermore, other factors or variables should also investigate in order to understand their effect on innovation. Originality/value: This paper demonstrated that the knowledge sharing and information technology had the critical influence on the organization innovation and played a vital role as a critical success factor of organization.