Information Technology and Product/Service Innovation: A Brief Assessment and Some Suggestions for Future Research

In this paper, I follow up on my previous article about information systems as a reference discipline for new product development (Nambisan, 2003) and assess the extant research on this topic. To facilitate the assessment, I develop a framework that considers information technology's ( IT's) dual roles as operand resource and as operant resource and its impact on innovation process and on innovation outcome. My analysis reveals the advance that has been made in understanding IT's role as operand resource in innovation and the considerable opportunity that exists to explore IT's emerging role as operant resource in innovation. I also comment on the need for IS scholars working in this area to make careful choices regarding their research topic and theoretical perspectives to enhance the potential impact on and contribution to the product/service innovation literature.