IT and NPD Performance: Unveiling the Mediating Effects of Process Integration and Knowledge Integration

The elusive relationship between information technology (IT) and business value continues to challenge academics and researchers. Recently, it has been suggested that a process-level framework that accounts for intermediate organizational factors is likely to allow us to better understand the antecedents of the business value of IT. This paper develops a model examining the impact of distinct IT usages on new product development (NPD) process performance. The mediating roles of two distinct integration types are examined: process integration and knowledge integration. These two integration types are conceptualized and distinguished from each other in an effort to provide a deeper understanding as to how they are influenced by IT and how they influence NPD performance. The model contributes to research by elucidating the role of IT in the NPD process and by extending the extant theory on integration and NPD performance and incorporating the distinct effects of the two integration types.