The impact of corporate entrepreneurship on service innovation in the financial services industry

Abstract

Financial services companies pride themselves on delivering quality services to customers. However, in order to sustain their revenue streams in challenging macroeconomic times and rapid technological growth, a shift in culture is required. The facets of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) are explored to determine whether or not it advocates worthy practices in driving service innovation (SI) in order to maintain the competitive advantage of financial services companies. A case study approach was taken that gathered individuals' responses from a leading South African bank. This approach enabled the researcher to understand the state of CE within the organisation and how CE has influenced SI. The case study used quantitative data gathered through an online survey utilising scales for CE and SI. A factor analysis on the gathered data was used to refine the number of data variables. Linear and multiple regression analyses were conducted against the resultant factors of CE and SI. The findings revealed that most of the underlying constituencies of CE are positively correlated to SI. A true assessment of the financial services industry was not attained. However, the insights gained from this study are useful to companies that are looking to find methods to revive or improve their commercial services offered to customers.