Title: The roles of absorptive capacity, IT advancement and innovativeness in moving up the value chain by Indian IT service organisations

Authors: B. Mahendramohan; G. Kannabiran; P. Sridevi

Addresses: Department of Management Studies, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, 620015, India ' Department of Management Studies, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, 620015, India ' Department of Management Studies, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, 620015, India

Abstract: Indian information technology (IT) service organisations have been dwelling at the lower levels of the IT services value chain, providing low value-added services. Competition from other low-cost nations and automation of services are forcing them to move up the value chain and offer high-value services. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), data science and internet of things (IoT) are also generating a plethora of opportunities to move up the value chain. To exploit these opportunities, Indian IT service organisations should upgrade their capabilities. We develop a theoretical model based on the absorptive capacity perspective to understand the phenomenon of moving up the value chain. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the responses from 188 employees of Indian IT service organisations. The study establishes the importance of the service organisation's absorptive capacity, IT advancement and innovativeness in moving up the value chain.

Keywords: absorptive capacity; information technology advancement; innovativeness; moving-up value chain; information technology service.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2024.139233

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2024 Vol.34 No.3, pp.299 - 326

Received: 09 Oct 2020
Accepted: 21 May 2021
Published online: 28 Jun 2024 *

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