Does Innovation Mediate the Relationship Between ICT Use and Competitive Advantage? Investigating the Perceptions of Practitioners in the Pharmaceutical Industry

The aim of this study is to examine whether ICT and innovation resources can be utilized to facilitate the competitiveness of both pharmaceutical firms and contract research organizations (CROs). By using structural equation modelling based on survey data collected from 683 pharmaceutical practitioners in China, we find that there is a positive relationship between ICT and competitive advantage. Innovation mediates the documented relationship. When comparing hypothesized relationship across different respondents, CROs’ respondents exhibit a full-mediation effect of innovation, while pharmaceutical firms’ respondents present a partial-mediation effect. Our study sheds new light on the “ICT use – competitive advantage” nexus from the innovation perspective, and offers valuable insights for managers and policymakers in better leveraging ICT and innovative resources to achieve competitive advantage.