Abstract:
The systematic process of innovation is how businesses may create and sustain their
competitive advantage. This is accomplished through the application of new services or
the improvement of existing services. The innovation process is regarded as a complex in
nature and is difficult to conceptualise. When thinking about service innovation processes,
the specific organizational setting is crucial. Understanding the nature of that industry can
be aided by taking into account the characteristics of the firm and organizational
environment. Technical engineering firms are knowledge based intensive firms who
formulate solutions for their clients on a daily basis and are considered to be extremely
innovative in nature.
The study has examined the way technical engineering consulting firms who provide
building services formulate their innovation processes and why knowledge is important to
these firms in the process. A set of semi structured interviews with 12 participants was
conducted, which formed part of the data collection. The findings of the study have
displayed six themes from the findings which aided in understanding two research
questioned proposed in the study. The study revealed that firm’s processes begin as result
of events occurring randomly and their approach can be combination of both formal and
informal processes when trying to achieve their goal of meeting market need and creating
value at the same time. The results of the study further propose a model which describes
the process and what aspects play role in these firms conducting successful innovation
processes.
The research contributes towards the growing innovation processes research in
service firms. This study has provided a view of what innovation processes consulting
engineering service firms undertake in a South African emerging market context. The
study is carried out at point where the current consulting engineering sector has been
trying to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other political challenges
in the country.
