Methodological tool for measurement and assessment of technological innovation capabilities

From the Resource-Based View of the firm central importance is given to the resources and organizational capabilities required to implement successful competitive strategies. In particular, recent literature points to the technological innovation capabilities as critical for international competitiveness, especially for technology-based companies. However, the concept of innovation capability and, particularly, its measurement, assessment and relationship with business performance, are issues still under discussion. This paper seeks to contribute to this discussion by presenting a methodological tool to identify and classify the variables required to measure and assess the technological innovation capabilities. Conceptually, the proposal rests on three pillars: i) the Resource-Based View of the firm; ii) the concept of technological innovation capability and its specific constituent capabilities; and iii) a systemic congruence model for organizational assessment of the company. The methodological tool is verified in order to reach conceptual and theoretical consistency, resorting to proposals and results reported in the literature on innovation capabilities. The functional requirements of the tool are studied for its implementation, and its use is illustrated for the case of a web application developed as an assessment tool for technological innovation capabilities in SMEs of the Colombian electricity sector.