Link between digitalization and new product launch

Abstract

Digital transformation and new product success are critical factors for companies’ competitiveness. Does a link exist between digitalization measures within companies, and their new product success? A former study among trading companies has diagnosed a link already. However, as only limited to trading business and a small sample, results stay little robust. Further research is needed. Therefore, the question of this work is, if this link also exists within B2B industrial firms, hypnotising that the link should also be there. Therefore, empirical data among 1.000 production firms in Germany has been gathered with a huge panel survey. Current times are described by high competition and fast changing trends. Companies’ abilities to innovate is therefore a result and a necessary ability to encounter the threat of being outperformed by competitors. Research on this subject therefore closes a relevant scientific gap. This article enlarges the knowledge gathered from a first survey among traders, with a bigger survey among industrial firms. The method of this work is to collect data within German B2B industrial firms and to run a correlation and regression analysis to answer the question, if companies who took relevant digitalization measures, report also higher new product success and compare the results to the previous study among trading firms. The study confirms the previously found link as well for industrial firms. Companies who take digitalization measures, can take profit from them by a higher success of new products.