An assessment of innovativeness in KIBS: implications on KIBS' co-creation culture, innovation capability, and performance
12 Apr 2013-Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing (Emerald Group Publishing Limited)-Vol. 28, Iss: 2, pp 86-102
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the relationship between innovative culture, innovation efforts, and their performance among knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) in terms of customer-related outcomes and market and financial results relative to competition.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between innovative culture, innovation efforts, and their performance among knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). Innovation intensity is evaluated in the technical and administrative domains. Performance indicators include customer-related outcomes and market and financial results relative to competition. To provide insight into how innovativeness contributes to sustaining a KIBS' competitiveness, the mediating role of its predisposition to involve customers and front-line employees in new service development is also considered. Design/methodology/approach – In accordance with the objectives of the research, and from an extensive review of the literature, the authors develop a conceptual model and test it on a sample of 154 Spanish KIBS using structural equation modelling. Findings – The results show that KIBS' appraisal of customers' and front-line employees' participation in new service co-creation is strongly determined by ...
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TL;DR: In this paper, a model examining how customer collaboration and openness to innovation act as antecedents of customer knowledge management (CKM) and customer collaboration's effect on marketing results is presented.
141 citations
Cites background from "An assessment of innovativeness in ..."
...Some studies, such as that of Santos, González, and Lopez (2013), empirically show that customer participation positively affects customer outcomes such as loyalty, customer satisfaction, and added value, and, consequently, affects business results like sales and market share....
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Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the drivers of innovative behavior of individual co-workers, which is considered to be a major determinant of incremental innovation, and found that perceptions of job challenge, autonomy, strategic attention and external contacts are positively related to innovative behavior.
Abstract: Innovation researchers increasingly pay attention to service industries, resulting in a large amount of literature on success factors in new service development. However, the role of individual co-workers in innovation is still underexposed. This paper investigated the drivers of innovative behaviour of individual co-workers, which is considered to be a major determinant of incremental innovation. From the literature seven constructs were derived that are often discussed as drivers of innovation, but have not been tested as determinants of individual co-workers' innovative behaviour. Survey data were collected from 360 persons working in knowledge-intensive service firms. Based on a regression analysis, it appeared that perceptions of job challenge, autonomy, strategic attention and external contacts are positively related to innovative behaviour of individual co-workers. Also, operating in a market where firms compete on differentiation had a positive impact. On the other hand, a firm climate supportive to innovation and a high variation in demand did not affect innovative behaviour in a direct manner.
124 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined how the collaboration with FLEs along the new service development (NSD) process, namely FLE co-creation, impacts on service innovation performance following two routes of different effects.
Abstract: From a Service-Dominant Logic (S-DL) perspective, employees constitute operant resources that firms can draw to enhance the outcomes of innovation efforts. While research acknowledges that frontline employees (FLEs) constitute, through service encounters, a key interface for the transfer of valuable external knowledge into the firm, the range of potential benefits derived from FLE-driven innovation deserves more investigation. Using a sample of knowledge intensive business services firms (KIBS), this study examines how the collaboration with FLEs along the new service development (NSD) process, namely FLE co-creation, impacts on service innovation performance following two routes of different effects. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) results indicate that FLE co-creation benefits the NS success among FLEs and firm’s customers, the constituents of the resources route. FLE co-creation also has a positive effect on the NSD speed, which in turn enhances the NS quality. NSD speed and NS quality integrate the operational route, which proves to be the most effective path to impact the NS market performance. Accordingly, KIBS managers must value their FLEs as essential partners to achieve successful innovation from an internal and external perspective, and develop the appropriate mechanisms to guarantee their effective involvement along the NSD process.
101 citations
Cites background or methods from "An assessment of innovativeness in ..."
...Similarly, de Brentani and Ragot (1996) also find that professional service firms that promise and deliver excellent service outcomes from the customer’s perspective do achieve improved success, which has been further confirmed in recent studies (Santos-Vijande et al. 2013a)....
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...Second, FLEs in service organizations are the first to identify and make adjustments to avoid potential service failures, which in turn can provide the basis for needed future innovations (Santos-Vijande et al. 2013a; Jayasimha et al. 2007)....
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...In any case, it is crucial for KIBS firms to develop a strong management commitment toward the cocreation capabilities of FLEs as an important antecedent of FLEs’ predisposition to participate in the NSD process (Santos-Vijande et al. 2013b)....
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...Prior research in the business services literature also provides empirical evidence to support this relationship (Santos-Vijande et al. 2012, 2013b)....
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...Similarly, FLEs are, in many cases, the first to identify and repair service failures, actions that may also constitute the cornerstone of future required service innovations (Santos-Vijande et al. 2013a; Jayasimha et al. 2007; van der Heijden et al. 2013)....
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TL;DR: Analysis of how collaboration with existing and prospective users, and investments in knowledge management practices can be adapted to maximise the outputs of radical and incremental process innovation in a Knowledge-Intensive Business Service (KIBS) industry finds higher involvement with prospective users requires higher investment in KM practices to promote efficient intra- and inter-firm knowledge flows.
Abstract: Purpose: Despite the keen interest in radical and incremental innovation, few studies have tested the varying impact of firm-level factors in service sectors. This paper analyses how collaboration with existing and prospective users, and investments in knowledge management (KM) practices can be adapted to maximise the outputs of radical and incremental process innovation in a Knowledge-Intensive Business Service (KIBS) industry. Methodology: Original survey data from 166 Information Technology Service (ITS) firms and interviews with 13 executives provide the empirical evidence. PLS-SEM is used to analyse the data. Findings: Collaboration with different types of users, and investments in KM practices affect radical versus incremental process innovation differently. Collaboration with existing users influences incremental process innovation directly, but not radical innovation; and prospective user collaboration matters for radical, but not incremental innovation. Furthermore, for radical innovation, investments in KM practices mediate the impact of prospective user collaboration on innovation. Implications: While collaboration with existing users for incremental process innovations does not appear to generate significant managerial challenges, to pursue radical innovations firms must engage in intensive collaboration with prospective users. Higher involvement with prospective users requires higher investment in KM practices to promote efficient intra- and inter-firm knowledge flows. Originality: This study is based on a large-scale survey, together with management interviews. Radical and incremental innovations require engagements with different kinds of users in the service industry, and knowledge management tools.
89 citations
Cites background from "An assessment of innovativeness in ..."
...There is keen academic interest in how users and ITS firm collaborate as the viability of such co-creation and its impact on the firm’s performance is not well understood (Santos-Vijande et al., 2013)....
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...However, the feasibility of such co-creation and its impact on a firm’s performance lacks clarity (Santos-Vijande et al., 2013)....
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TL;DR: Of the three dimensions of customer knowledge management, knowledge from customer turns out to be the strongest predictor of innovation quality and speed, and managers should put more emphasis on knowledge from and for customer to enhance innovation capacity and achieve success in the development of a new service.
Abstract: Purpose
This paper examines the influence of three dimensions of customer knowledge management – knowledge from customer, knowledge for customer and knowledge about customer – on innovation capabilities (speed and quality) and new service market performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The model links three dimensions of customer knowledge management to two dimensions of innovation capabilities. Further, the model links two dimensions of innovation capabilities to new service market performance. Analysis was conducted through structural equation modelling using SmartPLS software, using data from 253 managers representing 26 banks in Bangladesh.
Findings
The findings of this study show that knowledge from customer and knowledge for customer are the most influential predictors of new service market performance. Of the three dimensions of customer knowledge management, knowledge from customer turns out to be the strongest predictor of innovation quality and speed. Innovation quality has a greater impact on new service market performance than innovation speed. Innovation capability (quality and speed) plays a mediating role in this study.
Practical implications
Managing knowledge from, for and about customer should be systematically considered as a synergy approach to firms’ processes and activities to co-create value with customers. In particular, managers should put more emphasis on knowledge from and for customer to enhance innovation capacity and achieve success in the development of a new service.
Originality/value
This paper empirically supports the significant influence of knowledge from, for and about customer on innovation capabilities (quality and speed) and new service market performance. While the results provide guidance for researchers and practitioners, it also adds value to innovation-related research.
89 citations
Cites background from "An assessment of innovativeness in ..."
...Researchers have advocated that firms must be innovative to achieve a competitive edge to gain market performance (Santos-Vijande et al., 2013)....
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