Firm Performance Driven by Digital Technology: The Mediat-ing Role of Strategy and Innovation
Keywords:
digital technology usage, digital transformation strategy, organizational innovation, firm performance, financial industryAbstract
The role of digital technology in shaping business outcomes has been widely examined in both scholarly and industry contexts. Within this framework, firm performance is increasingly linked to how digital transformation strategies and organizational innovation are enabled by the use of digital technologies. This research explores the mediating influence of digital transformation strategy and organizational innovation on the connection between digital technology adoption and firm performance. To investigate this relationship, a survey was conducted among supervisors working in Taiwan’s financial sector, with responses collected from 227 firms. The empirical findings demonstrate that digital technology usage positively contributes to the development of digital transformation strategies and fosters organizational innovation. These elements, in turn, enhance firm performance. Moreover, the analysis highlights that both digital transformation strategy and organizational innovation act as full mediators in the pathway between digital technology adoption and firm performance. The study provides valuable insights into the mechanisms through which digital technologies can strengthen organizational competitiveness and performance outcomes.
Downloads
References
Ahuja, G., and R. Katila. 2001. “Technological Acquisitions and the Innovation Performance of Acquiring Firms: A Longitudinal Study.” Strategic Management Journal 22 (3): 197–220.
Ali, M., K. A. S. Kan, and M. Sarstedt. 2016. “Direct and Configurational Paths of Absorptive Capacity and Organizational Innovation to Successful Organizational Performance.” Journal of Business Research 69 (11): 5317–5323.
Bagozzi, R., and Y. Yi. 1988. “On the Evaluation of Structural Equation Models.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 16 (1): 74–94.
Baregheh, A., J. Rowley, and S. Sambrook. 2009. “Towards a Multidisciplinary Definition of Innovation.” Management Decision 47 (8): 1323–1339.
Bharadwaj, A. S. 2000. “A Resource-Based Perspective on Information Technology Capability and Firm Performance: An Empirical Investigation.” MIS Quarterly 24 (1): 169–197.
Bharadwaj, A., O. A. El Sawy, P. A. Pavlou, and N. Venkatraman. 2013. “Digital Business Strategy: Toward a Next Generation of Insights.” MIS Quarterly 37 (2): 471–482.
Bolívar-Ramos, M. T., V. J. Garcia-Morales, and E. García-Sánchez. 2012. “Technological Distinctive Competencies and Organizational Learning: Effects on Organizational Innovation to Improve Firm Performance.” Journal of Engineering and Technology Management 29 (3): 331–357.
Brislin, R. 1986. The Wording and Translation of Research Instruments. In Field Methods in Cross-Cultural Research. Cross- Cultural Research and Methodology Series, Vol. 8, edited by W. Lonner, and J. Berry, 137–164. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: Sage.
Camisón, C., and A. Villar-López. 2014. “Organizational Innovation as an Enabler of Technological Innovation Capabilities and Firm Performance.” Journal of Business Research 67 (1): 2891–2902.
Chin, W. W. 1998. “Issues and Opinion on Structural Equation Modeling.” MIS Quarterly 22 (1): vii–xvi. Cohen, J. 1988. Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. 2nd ed. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Dalenogare, L. S., G. B. Benitez, N. F. Ayala, and A. G. Frank. 2018. “The Expected Contribution of Industry 4.0 Technologies for Industrial Performance.” International Journal of Production Economics 204: 383–394.
Damanpour, F. 2014. “Footnotes to Research on Management Innovation.” Organization Studies 35 (9): 1265–1285. Danuso, A., F. Giones, and E. Ribeiro da Silva. 2021. “The Digital Transformation of Industrial Players: A Guide.” Business Horizons. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2021.04.001.
Fichman, R., B. Santos, and E. Zheng. 2014. “Digital Innovation as a Fundamental and Powerful Concept in the Information Systems Curriculum.” MIS Quarterly 38 (2): 329–353.
Fornell, C., and D. F. Larcker. 1981. “Evaluating Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error.” Journal of Marketing Research 19: 39–50.
Gillani, F., K. A. Chatha, M. S. S. Jajja, and S. Farooq. 2020. “Implementation of Digital Manufacturing Technologies: Antecedents and Consequences.” International Journal of Production Economics 229: 107748.
Gong, C., and V. Ribiere. 2021. “Developing a Unified Definition of Digital Transformation.” Technovation 102: 102217. Hanelt, A., R. Bohnsack, D. Marz, and C. Antunes Marante. 2021. “A Systematic Review of the Literature on Digital Transformation: Insights and Implications for Strategy and Organizational Change.” Journal of Management Studies 58 (5): 1159–1197.
Hess, T., A. Benlian, C. Matt, and F. Wiesböck. 2016. “Options for Formulating a Digital Transformation Strategy.” MIS Quarterly Executive 15 (2): 123–139.
Ho, L. 2011. “Meditation, Learning, Organizational Innovation and Performance.” Industrial Management & Data Systems 111 (1): 113–131.
Hult, G. T. M., R. F. Hurley, and G. A. Knight. 2004. “Innovativeness: Its Antecedents and Impact on Business Performance.” Industrial Marketing Management 33 (5): 429–438.
Janssen, M., V. Weerakkody, E. Ismagilova, U. Sivarajah, and Z. Irani. 2020. “A Framework for Analysing Blockchain Technology Adoption: Integrating Institutional, Market and Technical Factors.” International Journal of Information Management 50: 302–309.
Jin, J., L. Ma, and X. Ye. 2020. “Digital Transformation Strategies for Existed Firms: From the Perspectives of Data Ownership and key Value Propositions.” Asian Journal of Technology Innovation 28 (1): 77–93.
Johnson, K. 2021. What Is Digital Technology? 25 Best Examples. Accessed 8 February 2021. https://honestproscons. com/what-is-digital-technology-25-best-examples/#Future_of_Digital_Technology.
Kane, G. C., D. Palmer, A. Nguyen-Phillips, D. Kiron, and N. Buckley. 2017. “Achieving Digital Maturity.” MIT Sloan Management Review 59 (1): 1–31.
Khin, S., and T. C. Ho. 2019. “Digital Technology, Digital Capability and Organizational Performance: A Mediating Role of Digital Innovation.” International Journal of Innovation Science 11 (2): 1757–2223.
Kim, D., and R. P. Lee. 2010. “Systems Collaboration and Strategic Collaboration: Their Impacts on Supply Chain Responsiveness and Market Performance.” Decision Sciences 41 (4): 955–981.
Leonardi, P. M. 2013. “When Does Technology use Enable Network Change in Organizations? A Comparative Study of Feature use and Shared Affordances.” MIS Quarterly 37 (3): 749–775.
Li, Y., J. Dai, and L. Cui. 2020. “The Impact of Digital Technologies on Economic and Environmental Performance in the Context of Industry 4.0: A Moderated Mediation Model.” International Journal of Production Economics 229: 107777. Li, H., Y. Wu, D. Cao, and Y. Wang. 2021. “Organizational Mindfulness Towards Digital Transformation as a Prerequisite of Information Processing Capability to Achieve Market Agility.” Journal of Business Research 122: 700–712.
Lyytinen, K., and G. Rose. 2003. “Disruptive Information System Innovation: The Case of Internet Computing.” Information Systems Journal 13 (4): 301–330.
Matt, C., T. Hess, and A. Benlian. 2015. “Digital Transformation Strategies.” Business & Information Systems Engineering 57(5): 339–343.
McKinsey. 2020. The Digital-Led Recovery from COVID-19: Five Questions for CEOs. Accessed 8 September 2020. https:// www. mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-digital-led-recovery-from-covid -19-five- questions-for-ceos#.
Mention, A. L., P. J. Barlatier, and E. Josserand. 2019. “Using Social Media to Leverage and Develop Dynamic Capabilities for Innovation.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 144: 242–250.
Nambisan, S. 2013. “Information Technology and Product/Service Innovation: A Brief Assessment and Some Suggestions for Future Research.” Journal of the Association for Information Systems 14 (4): 1.
Nambisan, S., K. Lyytinen, A. Majchrzak, and M. Song. 2017. “Digital Innovation Management: Reinventing Innovation Management Research in a Digital World.” MIS Quarterly 1: 41.
Nambisan, S., M. Wright, and M. Feldman. 2019. “The Digital Transformation of Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Progress, Challenges and key Themes.” Research Policy 48 (8): 103773.
Nunnally, J. C. 1978. Psychometric Theory. (2nd Edition). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Podsakoff, P. M., S. B. MacKenzie, J. Y. Lee, and N. P. Podsakoff. 2003. “Common Method Bias in Behavioral Research: A Critical Review of the Literature and Recommended Remedies.” Journal of Applied Psychology 88 (5): 879–903.
Porter, M., and V. Millar. 1985. “How Information Gives you a Competitive Advantage.” Harvard Business Review 63 (4): 149–160.
Prange, C., and J. C. Pinho. 2017. “How Personal and Organizational Drivers Impact on SME International Performance: The Mediating Role of Organizational Innovation.” International Business Review 26 (6): 1114–1123.
Singh, S. K., M. D. Giudice, S. Y. Tarba, and P. D. Bernardi. 2019. “Top Management Team Shared Leadership, Market- Oriented Culture, Innovation Capability, and Firm Performance.” IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management PP(99): 1–11.
Tortorella, G. L., A. M. C. Vergara, J. A. Garza-Reyes, and R. Sawhney. 2020. “Organizational Learning Paths Based upon Industry 4.0 Adoption: An Empirical Study with Brazilian Manufacturers.” International Journal of Production Economics 219: 284–294.
Usai, A., F. Fiano, A. M. Petruzzelli, P. Paoloni, M. F. Briamonte, and B. Orlando. 2021. “Unveiling the Impact of the Adoption of Digital Technologies on Firms’ Innovation Performance.” Journal of Business Research 133: 327–336.
Vaska, S., M. Massaro, E. M. Bagarotto, and F. Dal Mas. 2021. “The Digital Transformation of Business Model Innovation: A Structured Literature Review.” Frontiers in Psychology 11: 3557.
Venkatraman, V. 2017. The Digital Matrix: New Rules for Business Transformation Through Technology. LifeTree Media. Verhoef, P. C., T. Broekhuizen, Y. Bart, A. Bhattacharya, J. Q. Dong, N. Fabian, and M. Haenlein. 2021. “Digital Transformation: A Multidisciplinary Reflection and Research Agenda.” Journal of Business Research 122: 889–901. Verstegen, L., W. Houkes, and I. Reymen. 2019. “Configuring Collective Digital-Technology Usage in Dynamic and Complex Design Practices.” Research Policy 48 (8): 103696.
Vial, G. 2019. “Understanding Digital Transformation: A Review and a Research Agenda.” The Journal of Strategic Information Systems 28 (2): 118–144.
Wang, F., and K. Chen. 2020. “Do Product Imitation and Innovation Require Different Patterns of Organizational Innovation? Evidence from Chinese Firms.” Journal of Business Research 106: 60–74.
Wang, H., J. Feng, H. Zhang, and X. Li. 2020. “The Effect of Digital Transformation Strategy on Performance: The Moderating Role of Cognitive Conflict.” International Journal of Conflict Management 31 (3): 441–462.
Warner, K. S., and M. Wäger. 2019. “Building Dynamic Capabilities for Digital Transformation: An Ongoing Process of Strategic Renewal.” Long Range Planning 52 (3): 326–349.
Wessel, L., A. Baiyere, R. Ologeanu-Taddei, J. Cha, and T. Blegind-Jensen. 2021. “Unpacking the Difference Between Digital Transformation and IT-Enabled Organizational Transformation.” Journal of the Association for Information Systems 22 (1): 102–129.
Wu, F., S. Yeniyurt, D. Kim, and S. T. Cavusgil. 2006. “The Impact of Information Technology on Supply Chain Capabilities and Firm Performance.” Industrial Marketing Management 35 (4): 493–504.
Zhao, X., J. G. Lynch Jr, and Q. Chen. 2010. “Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and Truths About Mediation Analysis.” Journal of Consumer Research 37 (2): 197–206.
Zhu, K., S. Dong, S. X. Xu, and K. L. Kraemer. 2006. “Innovation Diffusion in Global Contexts: Determinants of Post- Adoption Digital Transformation of European Companies.” European Journal of Information Systems 15 (6): 601–616. Zhu, K., and K. L. Kraemer. 2005. “Post-adoption Variations in Usage and Value of Ebusiness by Organizations: Cross-Country Evidence from the Retail Industry.” Information Systems Research 16 (1): 61–84.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Future Economics and Business Studies

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
