End-user collaboration for process innovation in services: The role of internal resources

Rajneesh Narula, M. Ashok () and A. Martinez-Noya ()
Additional contact information
M. Ashok: Henley Business School, University of Reading
A. Martinez-Noya: University of Oviedo

No 2014-019, MERIT Working Papers from United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT)

Abstract: This paper focuses on how to improve process innovation in service sectors. To do so, we analyse how the interplay of external knowledge sources specifically, the intensity of end-user collaboration and the breadth of external collaboration and the firms internal resources impact process innovation at the firm level. Survey data from 166 Information Technology Services firms provide the empirical data, which is tested using the partial least squares structural equation model. Our results demonstrate that benefits from collaboration are not automatic, as the firms commitment of internal resources fully mediates the impact of the intensity of end-user collaboration and breadth of external collaboration on process innovation. Thus, internal resources become critical to make effective use of the knowledge residing both internally and externally, and key managerial practices that enable a firm to extract benefits from external collaboration are identified.

Keywords: user innovation; end-user collaboration; external knowledge sources; internal resources; process innovation; service industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M15 O31 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-02-28
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-ino, nep-knm and nep-sbm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Working Paper: End-User Collaboration for Process Innovation in Services: The Role of Internal Resources (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:unm:unumer:2014019

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