Understanding how service firms develop their systematic innovation processes

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.