Innovation In Knowledge Intensive Business Services Research Articles

How does digital transformation affect innovation in knowledge-intensive business services firms? The moderating effect of R&D collaboration portfolio

PurposeFirms are driven to ride on the digital wave in today’s open innovation ecosystem. This study aims to explore the effect of digital transformation (DT) on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) firms’ innovation ambidexterity, namely, radical versus incremental innovation, respectively. Meanwhile, the authors evaluated the moderating role of the complexity of R&D collaboration portfolio (i.e. organizational diversity and geographic diversity) in the above relationships.Design/methodology/approachUsing a panel data set of 171 Chinese listed firms in the information and communications technology services industry from 2010 to 2018, the proposed hypotheses were empirically attested.FindingsIt is found that DT has a positive relationship with radical innovation and an inverted U-shaped relationship with incremental innovation. In terms of the R&D collaboration portfolio, organizational diversity positively moderates the relationships between DT and innovation ambidexterity, respectively. The geographic diversity weakens the inverted U-shaped effect of DT on incremental innovation; however, its moderating role in the link between DT and radical innovation is not empirically verified.Originality/valueExtant scholars mainly addressed the interplay between KIBS firms and their manufacturing clients, while this study reveals the different consequences of DT on KIBS firms’ innovation ambidexterity to highlight the role of KIBS firms is an independent and essential innovator in a knowledge-driven economy. Notably, the findings contribute to knowledge management (KM) and R&D literature by confirming the diversity of the R&D collaboration portfolio is a critical KM strategy for KIBS firms to develop and promote external knowledge resources.

Obstacles to Digital Innovation in KIBS — The Case of Law Firms in Poland

As digitalization continues to fundamentally change professional work, we examine obstacles to technological innovation in the legal sector, which is a notable outlier when compared to other knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). This paper aims to explain the lower engagement with technological novelty in legal services in contrast to other KIBS spearheading global innovation. We adopted a mixed-method approach, combining both deductive and inductive inferential modes in a pragmatic manner. We used a quantitative analysis of law firms (n = 258) to establish baseline observations that were used to understand the attitudes toward the use of technology in addition to interviews with individual lawyers (n = 28). The study broadens the understanding of obstacles to digital change in small law firms operating on the periphery of the global market. Six different barriers clustered in two groups were identified: three reflect the character of individual work, two are related to law firm performance, and the last reveals an overarching problem in technology design. The discussion extends the debate on technological disruption in legal services. The reluctance to adopt digital innovations is not irrational when the drawbacks of creative disruption are considered. Endogenous change would require altering fragmented structures of local markets for companies to grow via an economy of scale. It is more likely that digital novelties will continue to develop from the global market delimited by the English language. A better understanding of obstacles to technological innovation may serve lawyers, managers, and LegalTech providers with material concerns that need to be addressed.

The role of client knowledge absorptive capacity for innovation in KIBS

PurposeThis paper aims to study the relationship between the knowledge exchanged during client interactions and innovation in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) enterprises. It adapts the concept of absorptive capacity, i.e. the ability of the firm to successfully deal with external knowledge, to the case of client knowledge being absorbed with the support of information and communication technologies and explores whether its three main dimensions (acquisition, assimilation and application of client knowledge) are significant enablers of KIBS’ innovation propensity.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical analysis is based on a dataset of 417 Russian KIBS companies collected in 2019 following the recommendations suggested in the new edition of Oslo Manual. To examine the relationship between the three-client knowledge absorptive capacity dimensions and implementation of different types of innovation by KIBS, the study applies linear ordinary least squares and logistic regression methods.FindingsThe results show that acquisition of client knowledge through the wide number of digital channels, assimilation of such knowledge boosted by its codification through a digital customer relationship management (CRM) system and application of client knowledge across different functional areas are positively associated with both product and business process innovations in KIBS.Originality/valueThe paper proposes that KIBS should develop and sustain the strong internal capacity to absorb knowledge through routine day-to-day client interactions as a part of their knowledge management systems. The results also indicate that application of digital communication tools and CRM systems are beneficial for KIBS and increases their propensity to innovate.

Influence of Determinants on Innovations in Small KIBS Firms in the Czech Republic before COVID-19

There is still a lack of empirical evidence prevalent about innovation in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), and more particular, about determinants of innovations in small firms to sustain their future development. Studies in this area suggest that different determinants will affect different forms of innovation outputs of KIBS. This paper investigates the direction and the significance of these influences on propensity to innovate. The empirical evidence is based on quantitative and firm-level data gathered through an email questionnaire, which yielded 128 qualified responses from small KIBS in the Czech Republic. The analysis is based on binary logistic regression to identify the effects of determinants on the propensity to innovate. In addition to the consistent results produced by studies in this area, we found reverse relationships between innovation and selected determinants. Negatively evolving knowledge (especially lack of qualified employees) and market determinants (lack of information about the market), positively stimulated small KIBS towards the propensity to introduce organizational innovations (structural and human resources practices), followed by increasing intensity of competition positively related to introducing a new service to the firm (especially t-KIBS) and insufficient availability of business partners increasing the marketing efforts. It’s evident that some negatively evolving determinants perform as incentives or driving forces to specific types of innovations. The results of this study could also be useful for owners and managers in KIBS firms engaging in innovation activities and government support, or incentivize the propensity to innovate.

Drivers for innovation in KIBS: evidence from Russia

ABSTRACT Knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) significantly contribute to the economic growth and competitive advantage of emerging markets, including Silk Road countries. KIBS are not only intermediaries that transfer knowledge through the economy but are also innovators themselves. This paper aims to explore how major innovation drivers influence the implementation of innovation in KIBS. Using a sample of 519 KIBS enterprises from Russia, the results show that human capital increases the implementation of technological innovation, while the link between standardisation and technological innovations is non-linear (an inverted U-shaped). In addition, the multiregional branch network promotes the implementation of all types of innovation, while advertising investments enhance the implementation of technological and marketing ones. These results help to provide some practical suggestions for both innovation managers and policy-makers.

Conditions for Innovation in KIBS: Evidence from Russia

The development of service industries in emerging economies has been attracting more attention in recent years, but to date there have been few studies of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) in these countries. (The main exception is the case of a specific sector – software and related Information Technology services, with most focus here being on India. KIBS as a whole have received little examination.) This paper aims to study how conditions for innovation influence innovation activities in KIBS in one of the largest emerging countries, Russia. The study draws on survey data from firms belonging to ten KIBS subsectors, based in major Russian cities in 2015. The results contrast with those generally reported in Western developed economies. In this particular emerging economy, firms experiencing negative market and knowledge conditions are actually more liable to undertake nontechnological innovations. We consider various explanations for this apparent anomaly. The institutional framework appears to be less essential for KIBS than has been earlier documented for manufacturing enterprises in Russia. Implications for innovation management and policy are outlined: both government and corporate, strategies here would benefit from more attention to these sectors.

INTERNAL R&D AND EXTERNAL INFORMATION IN KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE BUSINESS SERVICE INNOVATION: COMPLEMENTS, SUBSTITUTES OR INDEPENDENT?

This paper analyses the effect of internal R&D and of external sources of information on the innovation performance of Knowledge intensive business services (KIBS). The analysis is based on an establishment-level survey covering the period of 2011–2014 in Canada (Quebec). In order to determine the influence of different external information sources on innovation and the extent to which internal R&D and the use of external information sources are related to innovation, a series of logistic regressions are performed on four different measures of innovation. The results show that KIBS innovation is positively connected to market-related information sources (but not to research and academic sources), that KIBS innovation is positively associated with the performance of R&D, and that there are no synergies associated with the combined performance of R&D and external information gathering: their effects are independent and additive. These results share some similarities, but also some important differences, with those that have been obtained from the study of R&D and external information sourcing in manufacturing establishments.

Using Trademarks to Measure Innovation in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services

IntroductionDue to the lack of adequate innovation indicators, it is not trivial to measure the innovativeness of the services sector in general (Abreu et al., 2010), and of so-called knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), which are profoundly related to information and knowledge, in particular (Miles, 2000; Toivonen & Tuominen, 2009).

Using Trademarks to Measure Innovation in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services

Using Trademarks to Measure Innovation in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services

Service innovation in Indian knowledge-intensive business services: the Wipro case

Innovation is a major factor in the survival of many firms; more specifically for firms in the service sector. Since the service industry is growing fast in India, knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) have understood the need for innovation through the creation and distribution of knowledge. Current literature on service innovation has rarely examined the internal innovation of KIBS firms; it has only been focusing on the acting role of KIBS in innovation for their client firms. Information transfer, design, and implementation of knowledge to the client firm are services provided by KIBS. Helping in to understand the relationships between knowledge management and innovation in KIBS provides ample scope for empirical investigation. The aim of the research is to extend Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) knowledge management life cycle model and to prove, internal and external knowledge acts as a tool for service innovation, in Indian KIBS. Through a case study on a leading Indian KIBS – Wipro – we try to complement existing theory on service innovation with specific reference to knowledge management in KIBS.

The Geography of Intrametropolitan KIBS Innovation: Distinguishing Agglomeration Economies from Innovation Dynamics

Much has been written about innovation, territory, knowledge spill-overs and agglomeration economies, but neighbourhood-level processes of innovation have rarely been studied in a systematic fashion. This article explores whether knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) are systematically more innovative when they are located in employment clusters. In doing so, it distinguishes between the simple co-location of innovative firms with other activities, and possible dynamic effects (identified by controlling for firm-level innovation factors): most identified geographical patterns are resilient to controls, but the geography of innovation is not straightforward. In Montreal, whilst certain types of innovation occur in employment clusters, others display no spatial patterns. Furthermore, the most intensive KIBS innovators tend to locate away from high-employment and from high-KIBS zones. KIBS innovation does not behave as expected if innovation dynamics were localised in a fashion similar to agglomeration economies: it is therefore important to distinguish between the two.

Patterns of innovation in knowledge-intensive business services

This article develops indicators to capture six forms or types of innovation in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS): product, process, delivery, strategic, managerial and marketing innovations. It also proposes a conceptual framework inspired by the knowledge-based theory using different categories of knowledge assets as explanatory variables. Then, based on data of 1124 small and medium KIBS, multivariate probit regression models are estimated. The results show that product, process, strategic, managerial and marketing innovations are complementary. The results also show that the different forms of innovation are explained by different explanatory variables.

Modularity and innovation in knowledge-intensive business services: IT outsourcing in Germany and the UK

Drawing on an empirical study of IT outsourcing in the UK and Germany, this paper explores the lessons for modularity that can be drawn from the outsourcing of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). Because of the inseparability of information and production technologies, IT outsourcing is frequently accompanied by wider transformations in clients’ production technologies. This results in the need for knowledge and organisational coordination in the form of the transfer of staff from the client and the retained IT organisation. Modularity is often presented as a design strategy that stimulates innovation. Our research findings challenge the generalisability of this claim when examining KIBS outsourcing. We show that intangibility of services exacerbates the conflicts between clients and suppliers, which may present obstacles to innovation.