An assessment of innovativeness in KIBS: implications on KIBS' co-creation culture, innovation capability, and performance

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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