IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/ijimxx/v23y2019i03ns1363919619500270.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Organization Of R&D Activities In Large Knowledge Intensive Business Services: The Case Of A “Big Four” Consultancy

Author

Listed:
  • OIHANA BASILIOA

    (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Francisco Tomás y Valiente, 5, Madrid, Spain)

  • PHILIPPE LAREDOB

    (Université Paris-Est (IFRIS) and University of Manchester (MIOIR), Cite Descartes, 5 Bd Descartes, 77454 Marne-la-Vallée Cedex 2, France)

  • PALOMA SÁNCHEZC

    (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Francisco Tomás y Valiente, 5, Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

The belief that services are a laggard in innovation is over. But what do we know about how large service companies organize their R&D and innovation capabilities? This paper draws from the organizational aspects hidden behind the literature on service innovation to help fill this research gap. The paper tests these organizational insights in a “big four” consultancy company, archetypal of KIBS, to compare its infrastructure with the main organizational debates coming from R&D literature in technology-intensive manufacturing. Interestingly, the highly dynamic R&D organization found in the case study company and its recent developments and dynamic character reveal the relevance of a topic that has been so far overlooked in the literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Oihana Basilioa & Philippe Laredob & Paloma Sánchezc, 2019. "The Organization Of R&D Activities In Large Knowledge Intensive Business Services: The Case Of A “Big Four” Consultancy," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(03), pages 1-32, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:23:y:2019:i:03:n:s1363919619500270
    DOI: 10.1142/S1363919619500270
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1363919619500270
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S1363919619500270?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jon Sundbo & Faïz Gallouj, 1998. "Innovation as a loosely coupled system in services," Post-Print halshs-01113675, HAL.
    2. Manning, Stephan, 2013. "New Silicon Valleys or a new species? Commoditization of knowledge work and the rise of knowledge services clusters," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 379-390.
    3. Andrew Chadwick & John Glasson & Helen Lawton Smith, 2008. "Employment Growth in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services in Great Britain during the 1990s — Variations at the Regional and Sub-Regional Level," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 23(1), pages 6-18, February.
    4. J.N. Larsen, 2001. "Knowledge, Human Resources and Social Practice: The Knowledge-Intensive Business Service Firm as a Distributed Knowledge System," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 81-102, January.
    5. Lyons, Richard K. & Chatman, Jennifer A. & Joyce, Caneel K., 2007. "Innovation in services: corporate culture and investment banking," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 26940, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Suresh Kotha, 1995. "Mass customization: Implementing the emerging paradigm for competitive advantage," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(S1), pages 21-42.
    7. Barras, Richard, 1993. "Interactive innovation in financial and business services: The vanguard of the service revolution," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 101-102, April.
    8. Leiponen, Aija, 2005. "Skills and innovation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 23(5-6), pages 303-323, June.
    9. Mari Sako, 2006. "Outsourcing and Offshoring: Implications for Productivity of Business Services," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 22(4), pages 499-512, Winter.
    10. G. M.P. Swann, 2009. "The Economics of Innovation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13211.
    11. Faïz Gallouj & Faridah Djellal (ed.), 2010. "The Handbook of Innovation and Services," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12872.
    12. Pim Den Hertog, 2000. "Knowledge-Intensive Business Services As Co-Producers Of Innovation," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 4(04), pages 491-528.
    13. Probert, Jocelyn & Connell, David & Mina, Andrea, 2013. "R&D service firms: The hidden engine of the high-tech economy?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1274-1285.
    14. Djellal, Faridah & Gallouj, Faïz & Miles, Ian, 2013. "Two decades of research on innovation in services: Which place for public services?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 98-117.
    15. Nicoletta Corrocher & Lucia Cusmano & Andrea Morrison, 2009. "Modes of innovation in knowledge-intensive business services evidence from Lombardy," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 173-196, April.
    16. Muller, Emmanuel & Zenker, Andrea, 2001. "Business services as actors of knowledge transformation: the role of KIBS in regional and national innovation systems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 1501-1516, December.
    17. Wright, Christopher & Sturdy, Andrew & Wylie, Nick, 2012. "Management innovation through standardization: Consultants as standardizers of organizational practice," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 652-662.
    18. Hipp, Christiane & Grupp, Hariolf, 2005. "Innovation in the service sector: The demand for service-specific innovation measurement concepts and typologies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 517-535, May.
    19. Nicholas S. Argyres & Brian S. Silverman, 2004. "R&D, organization structure, and the development of corporate technological knowledge," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(8‐9), pages 929-958, August.
    20. Marie Louise Mors, 2010. "Innovation in a global consulting firm: when the problem is too much diversity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(8), pages 841-872, August.
    21. Archibugi, Daniele & Michie, Jonathan, 1995. "The Globalisation of Technology: A New Taxonomy," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 19(1), pages 121-140, February.
    22. von Zedtwitz, Maximilian & Gassmann, Oliver, 2002. "Market versus technology drive in R&D internationalization: four different patterns of managing research and development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 569-588, May.
    23. Edwin Mansfield, 1984. "R&D and Innovation: Some Empirical Findings," NBER Chapters, in: R&D, Patents, and Productivity, pages 127-154, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Jean Gadrey & Faïz Gallouj, 1998. "The Provider-Customer Interface in Business and Professional Services," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 01-15, April.
    25. Cohen, Wesley M & Levinthal, Daniel A, 1989. "Innovation and Learning: The Two Faces of R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(397), pages 569-596, September.
    26. Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2001. "Patterns of innovation organisation in service firms: postal survey results and theoretical models," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 28(1), pages 57-67, February.
    27. Love, James H. & Roper, Stephen & Bryson, John R., 2011. "Openness, knowledge, innovation and growth in UK business services," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 1438-1452.
    28. Blindenbach-Driessen, Floortje & van den Ende, Jan, 2006. "Innovation in project-based firms: The context dependency of success factors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 545-561, May.
    29. Gann, David M. & Salter, Ammon J., 2000. "Innovation in project-based, service-enhanced firms: the construction of complex products and systems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(7-8), pages 955-972, August.
    30. Jon Sundbo, 1997. "Management of Innovation in Services," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 432-455, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Djellal, Faridah & Gallouj, Faïz & Miles, Ian, 2013. "Two decades of research on innovation in services: Which place for public services?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 98-117.
    2. Ronnié Figueiredo & João José Matos Ferreira, 2020. "Spinner Model: Prediction of Propensity to Innovate Based on Knowledge-Intensive Business Services," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(4), pages 1316-1335, December.
    3. Muller, Emmanuel & Doloreux, David, 2009. "What we should know about knowledge-intensive business services," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 64-72.
    4. Daria Ciriaci & Sandro Montresor & Daniela Palma, 2013. "Do KIBS make manufacturing more innovative? An empirical investigation for four European countries," JRC Working Papers on Corporate R&D and Innovation 2013-04, Joint Research Centre.
    5. Faïz Gallouj & Maria Savona, 2010. "Towards a Theory of Innovation in Services: A State of the Art," Chapters, in: Faïz Gallouj & Faridah Djellal (ed.), The Handbook of Innovation and Services, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Maja Savic & Helen Lawton Smith & Ioannis Bournakis, 2014. "The effect of external knowledge sources and their geography on innovation in Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) SMEs; some Implications for de-industrialised regions in the UK," Working Papers 18, Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research, revised Aug 2014.
    7. Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2018. "Fifteen advances in service innovation studies," Chapters, in: Ada Scupola & Lars Fuglsang (ed.), Services, Experiences and Innovation, chapter 3, pages 39-65, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Flikkema, Meindert, 2005. "Exploring service development for understanding Schumpeterian innovation in service firms: the deduction of special case criteria," Serie Research Memoranda 0001, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    9. Jeremy Howells, 2010. "Services and Innovation and Service Innovation: New Theoretical Directions," Chapters, in: Faïz Gallouj & Faridah Djellal (ed.), The Handbook of Innovation and Services, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. J Howells & B Tether & F Gallouj & F Djellal & C Gallouj & K Blind & J Edler & C Hipp & F Montobbio & N Corrocher & A Macpherson & D Banach, 2004. "Innovation in Services: Issues at Stake and Trends," Working Papers halshs-01113600, HAL.
    11. Fernandes, Cristina & Ferreira, João & Marques, Carla, 2011. "KIBS Innovation Management Capability in Rural Portuguese Regions: Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 47005, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Matthijs Janssen & Carolina Castaldi & Alexander Alexiev, 2014. "Dynamic capabilities for service innovation: conceptualization and measurement," Working Papers 14-07, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies, revised Mar 2014.
    13. Faïz Gallouj, 2012. "Service: innovation, performance and public policy," Working Papers hal-01111765, HAL.
    14. Tor Helge Aas & Nina Jentoft & Mikaela Vasstrøm, 2016. "Managing innovation of care services: An exploration of Norwegian municipalities," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1215762-121, December.
    15. Bruce Tether, 2003. "The sources and aims of innovation in services: Variety between and within sectors," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(6), pages 481-505.
    16. Lee, Hsing-fen & Miozzo, Marcela, 2019. "Which types of knowledge-intensive business services firms collaborate with universities for innovation?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(7), pages 1633-1646.
    17. Marco Bettiol & Eleonora Di Maria & Roberto Grandinetti, 2013. "The Evolution of KIBS between Standardization and Customization: The Rise of Combinatory KIBS," DRUID Working Papers 13-08, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    18. Salunke, Sandeep & Weerawardena, Jay & McColl-Kennedy, Janet R., 2013. "Competing through service innovation: The role of bricolage and entrepreneurship in project-oriented firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1085-1097.
    19. Faïz Gallouj & Marja Toivonen, 2011. "Elaborating the characteristics-based approach to service innovation: making the service process visible," Journal of Innovation Economics, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(2), pages 33-58.
    20. Anna Cabigiosu & Diego Campagnolo, 2016. "The economic performance of innovations in a collaborative setting: the case of KIBS firms," Working Papers 22, Venice School of Management - Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wsi:ijimxx:v:23:y:2019:i:03:n:s1363919619500270. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/ijim/ijim.shtml .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.