The Effect of Interactivity between Knowledge Intensive Business service (KIBS) Firms and Customers on Innovations in KIBS Firms

It is now well established that innovation and knowledge management can improve firm's performance. However, questions like what kind of factors affect the innovations and how knowledge is related to innovation remain largely uninvestigated. In this study, we partially examine what is the key factor for facilitating innovations and how this factor is formed in the case of Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) firms. The innovation in services is often the result from a collaborative process between KIBS firms and client firms. We examine the role of interactivity in shaping innovations in KIBS firms and subsequent impact on firm performance. We collected data from 91 IT Service Management firms through the survey method. The results show that interactivity may be a significant indicator of innovation within KIBS firms. This study provides a blueprint to further investigation of the critical role of service in service science perspectives.

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