Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Recognizing opportunities: initiating service innovation in PSFs

Recognizing opportunities: initiating service innovation in PSFs Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to shed more light on the crucial initiation stage of service innovation in professional service firms (PSFs) by individual professionals and the implications for knowledge management. Design/methodology/approach – The paper builds theory, based on an in‐depth review of the relevant literature. The developed theory is illustrated with a case study of PricewaterhouseCoopers AG (PwC), one of the Big Four accounting and consulting firms. Formal and informal interviews about innovation, learning in client interactions, and knowledge management were held with more than 70 employees of PwC over a three‐year period. Findings – The paper shows that entrepreneurial opportunity recognition is a suitable framework to explain the initiation of service innovation in PSFs. Prior knowledge, alertness and search are identified as bases for the recognition of opportunities and hence the initiation of service innovation in PSFs. Therefore, the author argues that knowledge management should raise the alertness of individual professionals to engage in opportunity recognition and also provide a fruitful environment to enable active search for opportunities on the basis of relevant prior knowledge at hand. Practical implications – The findings aim to help managers in PSFs to understand better the initiation of innovation in their companies and enable fostering of innovation through the application of dedicated knowledge management initiatives. Originality/value – Previous research has not yet taken an in‐depth look at the initiation stage of service innovation by individual professionals in PSFs. In this paper, entrepreneurial opportunity recognition is presented and applied for the first time as a framework to explain the activity of professionals in the initiation of service innovation in PSFs. In doing this, the paper also contributes to the understanding of the under‐researched corporate entrepreneurial role of professionals in PSFs. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Knowledge Management Emerald Publishing

Recognizing opportunities: initiating service innovation in PSFs

Alban Fischer
Journal of Knowledge Management , Volume 15 (6): 13 – Oct 25, 2011
Download PDF
13 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/recognizing-opportunities-initiating-service-innovation-in-psfs-C00oim6NNR
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1367-3270
DOI
10.1108/13673271111179280
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to shed more light on the crucial initiation stage of service innovation in professional service firms (PSFs) by individual professionals and the implications for knowledge management. Design/methodology/approach – The paper builds theory, based on an in‐depth review of the relevant literature. The developed theory is illustrated with a case study of PricewaterhouseCoopers AG (PwC), one of the Big Four accounting and consulting firms. Formal and informal interviews about innovation, learning in client interactions, and knowledge management were held with more than 70 employees of PwC over a three‐year period. Findings – The paper shows that entrepreneurial opportunity recognition is a suitable framework to explain the initiation of service innovation in PSFs. Prior knowledge, alertness and search are identified as bases for the recognition of opportunities and hence the initiation of service innovation in PSFs. Therefore, the author argues that knowledge management should raise the alertness of individual professionals to engage in opportunity recognition and also provide a fruitful environment to enable active search for opportunities on the basis of relevant prior knowledge at hand. Practical implications – The findings aim to help managers in PSFs to understand better the initiation of innovation in their companies and enable fostering of innovation through the application of dedicated knowledge management initiatives. Originality/value – Previous research has not yet taken an in‐depth look at the initiation stage of service innovation by individual professionals in PSFs. In this paper, entrepreneurial opportunity recognition is presented and applied for the first time as a framework to explain the activity of professionals in the initiation of service innovation in PSFs. In doing this, the paper also contributes to the understanding of the under‐researched corporate entrepreneurial role of professionals in PSFs.

Journal

Journal of Knowledge Management – Emerald Publishing

Published: Oct 25, 2011

Keywords: Service innovation; Professional service firm; Knowledge management; Corporate entrepreneurship; Opportunity recognition; Entrepreneurialism

References

  • Entrepreneurship in the large corporation: a longitudinal study of how established firms create breakthrough inventions
    Ahuja, G.; Lampert, C.M.
  • Knowledge‐based innovation: emergence and embedding of new practice areas in management consulting firms
    Anand, N.; Gardner, H.K.; Morris, T.
  • Strategic innovation, corporate entrepreneurship and matching outside‐in to inside‐out approaches to strategy research
    Baden‐Fuller, C.W.F.
  • Opportunity recognition as pattern recognition: how entrepreneurs connect the dots to identify new business opportunities
    Baron, R.A.
  • Opportunity recognition as the detection of meaningful patterns: evidence from comparisons of novice and experienced entrepreneurs
    Baron, R.A.; Ensley, M.D.
  • The relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and strategic management
    Barringer, B.R.; Bluedorn, A.C.
  • Client co‐production in knowledge‐intensive business services
    Bettencourt, L.A.; Ostrom, A.L.; Brown, S.W.; Roundtree, R.I.
  • Corporate entrepreneurship and strategic management: insights from a process study
    Burgelman, R.A.
  • Technological paradigms, regimes and trajectories: manufacturing and service industries in a new taxonomy of sectoral patterns of innovation
    Castellacci, F.
  • Corporate entrepreneurship and the pursuit of competitive advantage
    Covin, J.G.; Miles, M.P.
  • Innovation in services in networks of organizations and in the distribution of services
    de Vries, E.J.
  • Knowledge‐intensive business services as co‐producers of innovation
    den Hertog, P.
  • Emerging issues in corporate entrepreneurship
    Dess, G.G.; Ireland, R.D.; Zahra, S.A.; Floyd, S.W.; Janney, J.J.; Lane, P.J.
  • Innovation in services: present findings, and future pathways
    Droege, H.; Hildebrand, D.; Forcada, M.A.H.
  • Opportunities and entrepreneurship
    Eckhardt, J.T.; Shane, S.A.
  • Fear of exploitation and fear of contamination: impediments to knowledge transfer in mergers between professional service firms
    Empson, L.
  • Knowledge development through client interaction: a comparative study
    Fosstenløkken, S.M.; Løwendahl, B.R.; Revang, O.
  • Innovation in services
    Gallouj, F.; Weinstein, O.
  • Chartering new territory: diversification, legitimacy, and practice area creation in professional service firms
    Gardner, H.K.; Anand, N.; Morris, T.
  • The professional partnership: Relic or exemplary form of governance?
    Greenwood, R.; Empson, L.
  • Institutional entrepreneurship in mature fields: the big five accounting firms
    Greenwood, R.; Suddaby, R.
  • Ownership and performance of professional service firms
    Greenwood, R.; Deephouse, D.L.; Li, S.X.
  • Cognitive processes of opportunity recognition: the role of structural alignment
    Grégoire, D.A.; Barr, P.S.; Shepherd, D.A.
  • Guest editors' introduction: corporate entrepreneurship
    Guth, W.D.; Ginsberg, A.
  • What's your strategy for managing knowledge?
    Hansen, M.T.; Nohria, N.; Tierney, T.
  • Direct and moderating effects of human capital on strategy and performance in professional service firms: a resource‐based perspective
    Hitt, M.A.; Bierman, L.; Shimizu, K.; Kochhar, R.
  • The importance of resources in the internationalization of professional service firms: the good, the bad, and the ugly
    Hitt, M.A.; Bierman, L.; Uhlenbruck, K.; Shimizu, K.
  • Middle managers' perception of the internal environment for corporate entrepreneurship: assessing a measurement scale
    Hornsby, J.S.; Kuratko, D.F.; Zahra, S.A.
  • Opportunity discovery, problem solving and a theory of the entrepreneurial firm
    Hsieh, C.; Nickerson, J.A.; Zenger, T.R.
  • Professional work: a sociological approach
    Leicht, K.T.; Fennell, M.L.
  • Organization of knowledge and innovation: the case of Finnish business services
    Leiponen, A.
  • Strategic Management of Professional Service Firms
    Løwendahl, B.
  • Clarifying the entrepreneurial orientation construct and linking it to performance
    Lumpkin, G.T.; Dess, G.G.
  • Corporate entrepreneurship and innovation part 1: the missing link
    McFadzean, E.; O'Loughlin, A.; Shaw, E.
  • Managing the Professional Service Firm
    Maister, D.H.
  • Innovation in service
    Miles, I.
  • Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook
    Miles, M.B.; Huberman, A.M.
  • The correlates of entrepreneurship in three types of firms
    Miller, D.
  • Organization and expertise: an exploration of knowledge bases and the management of accounting and consulting firms
    Morris, T.; Empson, L.
  • Promotion to partner in professional service firms
    Morris, T.; Pinnington, A.
  • Innovation in a global consulting firm: when the problem is too much diversity
    Mors, M.L.
  • Business services as actors of knowledge transformation: the role of KIBS in regional and national innovation systems
    Muller, E.; Zenker, A.
  • A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation
    Nonaka, I.
  • The concept of ‘ba’: building a foundation for knowledge creation
    Nonaka, I.; Konno, N.
  • The knowledge‐creating company: how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation
    Nonaka, I.; Takeuchi, H.
  • Organizational knowledge creation theory: evolutionary paths and future advances
    Nonaka, I.; von Krogh, G.; Voelpel, S.
  • Opportunity recognition and breakthrough innovation in large established firms
    O'Connor, G.C.; Rice, M.P.
  • Archetype change in professional organizations: survey evidence from large law firms
    Pinnington, A.; Morris, T.
  • Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung
    Schumpeter, J.A.
  • The globalization of law firms: managerial issues
    Segal‐Horn, S.; Dean, A.
  • Prior knowledge and the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities
    Shane, S.
  • Persuasion with case studies
    Siggelkow, N.
  • The contribution of KIBS to innovation in cities: an evolutionary and institutional perspective
    Simmie, J.; Strambach, S.
  • Identification and management of high‐potential professional services
    Smedlund, A.
  • Learning by knowledge‐intensive firms
    Starbuck, W.H.
  • Creating corporate entrepreneurship
    Stopford, J.M.; Baden‐Fuller, C.W.F.
  • Professional services firms in transition: challenges and opportunities for improving performance
    Stumpf, S.A.; Doh, J.P.; Clark, K.D.
  • Innovation as a loosely coupled system in services
    Sundbo, J.; Gallouj, F.
  • Innovation in management consulting firms through informal knowledge sharing
    Taminiau, Y.; Smit, W.; de Lange, A.
  • Beyond industry‐university links: sourcing knowledge for innovation from consultants, private research organisations and the public science‐base
    Tether, B.S.; Tajar, A.
  • Emergence of innovations in services
    Toivonen, M.; Tuominen, T.
  • Care in knowledge creation
    von Krogh, G.
  • What is a professional service firm? Toward a theory and taxonomy of knowledge‐intensive firms
    von Nordenflycht, A.
  • Exploring management consulting firms as knowledge systems
    Werr, A.; Stjernberg, T.
  • Managing talent in knowledge‐intensive settings
    Whelan, E.; Collings, D.G.; Donnellan, B.
  • Case Study Research: Design and Methods
    Yin, R.K.
  • Predictors and financial outcomes of corporate entrepreneurship: an exploratory study
    Zahra, S.A.
  • Governance, ownership, and corporate entrepreneurship: the moderating impact of industry technological opportunities
    Zahra, S.A.
  • Corporate entrepreneurship, knowledge, and competence development
    Zahra, S.A.; Nielsen, A.P.; Bogner, W.C.