The relationship between human capital, information technology capability, innovativeness and organizational performance: An integrated approach

The objective of the present study is to identify the existing relationships between the information technology (IT) human capital, IT capabilities, innovativeness, and organizational performance. A literature review indicated that there is space to be filled in the meeting of IT literature, human capital, and innovativeness, insofar as the particularities of these relationships are not clear and their joint role in the performance of organizations. A structural equation model was developed that analyzed the primary data provided by senior IT managers from 258 Brazilian public organizations. The results indicated that IT human capital is a unique construct and independent of IT capabilities, formed by the hard and soft skills of the IT staff, as well as their attitude towards technology. Human IT capital positively impacts the organizational IT capabilities, but it is not part of its composition since it is a corporate resource. The Human IT capital is of the necessary and fundamental inputs for IT capabilities, but it should not be confused with IT capabilities per se. We identified that IT human capital impacts IT capabilities, positively affecting organizational innovativeness. Finally, we identified that innovativeness is a driver for performance and leverages the effect of IT capabilities on performance.