Innovation in consulting firms has missed specific attention in academic research. Consulting firms are usually considered to be part of Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS), Professional Service Firms (PSF) or Project-based Firms (PbF). Consulting firms usually help other companies to be innovative, but they also need to innovate themselves to survive in the market. However, consultancies possess characteristics that do not correspond to generalizations made in previous studies. Some recent service innovation models have been identified but none of them focuses exclusively on service innovation in the context of consulting firms. The research explores how firms organize to manage innovation from a process perspective as well as its relationship with innovation dimensions and capabilities. It investigated the innovation processes in the context of consulting firms based on the interaction among main actors identified during the literature review from an internal (management, employees) and external (customers, competitors) perspective. In a lesser extent, other studies have also pointed out the role of other actors such as suppliers, competitors, universities, government, and society. Nonetheless, companies struggle to implement the best innovation strategy and innovation processes based on the wide range of options above mentioned. Companies tend to simplify reality by trying to control one single linear innovation process, but in fact, there are several innovation processes running at the same time. It is true that each of this innovation processes are generally related with one of the perspectives. Our results show that all these views are not mutually exclusive; on the contrary, many of them coexist or evolve into the other along the lifecycle of the company and its business circumstances. To achieve the research objective, the methodology follows three steps. Initially, a semi-quantitative literature review was conducted to get familiar with the state of the art in the field, identify gaps and draw a preliminary framework about the innovation processes in consulting firms. After that, a qualitative research strategy was used based on case studies. The first phase of the study was conducted in consulting firms from Italy between June and September 2015. The second phase of Study was realized in consulting firms from Spain between April and June 2016. We contacted around 60 companies via the university external relation offices, LinkedIn and personal networking. We selected companies from all ranges that had important projects and operation in both countries. In total, 15 consulting firms participated in our study (7 from Italy and 8 from Spain). There are three main contributions of this research. First, there are some peculiarities in the management of innovation in Professional Service Firms. Consulting firms have the challenge of using a mix of seven innovation processes as a solution to the strategic problem of innovation management, which are related to seven different drivers and sources of knowledge. PSF primary focus on innovating new services concepts and new technological delivery systems in an initial project with a client which are rather customized than standardized when this knowledge is reused to provide a solution to another client. Consulting Firms create new practices not only to provide new service offerings (operational capabilities) but also to adapt and renew their innovation capabilities (dynamic capabilities). Signaling user needs and co-producing and orchestrating are the main dynamic service innovation capabilities that distinguish consulting firms. Second, IT Consulting Firms manage innovation different when compared to Management Consulting Firms. Consulting Firms cannot be treated as an undifferentiated group. We distinguish at least two subgroups: IT Consulting Firms, which share more similarities with the T-KIBS, whilst Management Consulting firms are more similar to P-KIBS. Evidence suggest that IT Consulting firms have a more mature implementation of open innovation compared to Management Consulting Firms. IT Consulting Firms focus on the development of innovation ecosystems changing their role from problem solvers to solution seekers. Third, the use of Open Innovation for Innovation Management in PSF. Due to nature of the service provision (co-production/co-creation), consulting firms have always used open innovation processes because it allows them to have organizational ambidexterity. Exploration is done through the customization of a solution to the client, while the exploitation is performed by initially standardizing a solution to be later customized again when applied into another client project. This research also proposes a taxonomy of outbound open innovation strategies.
L'innovazione nelle società di consulenza ha perso un'attenzione specifica nella ricerca accademica. Le società di consulenza sono generalmente considerate parte dei servizi aziendali ad alto contenuto di conoscenza (KIBS), delle società di servizi professionali (PSF) o delle società basate sul progetto (PbF). Le ditte di consulenza di solito aiutano le altre aziende ad essere innovative, ma hanno anche bisogno di innovarsi per sopravvivere nel mercato. Tuttavia, le consulenze possiedono caratteristiche che non corrispondono a generalizzazioni fatte in studi precedenti. Sono stati identificati alcuni modelli recenti di innovazione del servizio, ma nessuno di essi si concentra esclusivamente sull'innovazione dei servizi nel contesto delle società di consulenza. La ricerca esplora il modo in cui le aziende organizzano per gestire l'innovazione dal punto di vista del processo e la sua relazione con le dimensioni e le capacità dell'innovazione. Ha studiato i processi di innovazione nel contesto delle società di consulenza basate sull'interazione tra i principali attori identificati durante la revisione della letteratura da una prospettiva interna (gestione, dipendenti) ed esterna (clienti, concorrenti). In misura minore, altri studi hanno anche evidenziato il ruolo di altri attori come fornitori, concorrenti, università, governo e società. Nondimeno, le aziende hanno difficoltà a implementare la migliore strategia di innovazione e processi di innovazione basati sulla vasta gamma di opzioni sopra menzionate. Le aziende tendono a semplificare la realtà cercando di controllare un singolo processo di innovazione lineare, ma in realtà, ci sono diversi processi di innovazione in esecuzione allo stesso tempo. È vero che ciascuno di questi processi di innovazione è generalmente correlato con una delle prospettive. I nostri risultati mostrano che tutte queste opinioni non si escludono a vicenda; al contrario, molti di loro coesistono o si evolvono nell'altro lungo il ciclo di vita dell'azienda e delle sue circostanze aziendali. Per raggiungere l'obiettivo di ricerca, la metodologia segue tre fasi. Inizialmente, è stata condotta una revisione della letteratura semi-quantitativa per familiarizzare con lo stato dell'arte nel campo, identificare le lacune e tracciare un quadro preliminare sui processi di innovazione nelle società di consulenza. Successivamente, è stata utilizzata una strategia di ricerca qualitativa basata su studi di casi. La prima fase dello studio è stata condotta in società di consulenza dall'Italia tra giugno e settembre 2015. La seconda fase di studio è stata realizzata in società di consulenza spagnole tra aprile e giugno 2016. Abbiamo contattato circa 60 società tramite gli uffici delle relazioni esterne dell'università, LinkedIn e rete personale. Abbiamo selezionato aziende di tutte le gamme che avevano progetti e operazioni importanti in entrambi i paesi. In totale, 15 studi di consulenza hanno partecipato al nostro studio (7 dall'Italia e 8 dalla Spagna). Ci sono tre principali contributi di questa ricerca. Innanzitutto, ci sono alcune peculiarità nella gestione dell'innovazione nelle società di servizi professionali. Le società di consulenza hanno la sfida di utilizzare un mix di sette processi di innovazione come soluzione al problema strategico della gestione dell'innovazione, che sono collegati a sette diversi driver e fonti di conoscenza. L'obiettivo primario di PSF è l'innovazione di nuovi concetti di servizi e nuovi sistemi tecnologici di consegna in un progetto iniziale con un cliente che sono piuttosto personalizzati rispetto a quelli standardizzati quando questa conoscenza viene riutilizzata per fornire una soluzione a un altro cliente. Le società di consulenza creano nuove pratiche non solo per fornire nuove offerte di servizi (capacità operative), ma anche per adattare e rinnovare le loro capacità di innovazione (capacità dinamiche). Segnalare le esigenze degli utenti e co-produrre e orchestrare sono le principali capacità di innovazione del servizio dinamico che contraddistinguono le società di consulenza. In secondo luogo, gli IT Consulting Firms gestiscono l'innovazione in modo diverso rispetto alle società di consulenza di gestione. Consulting Consulting non può essere trattato come un gruppo indifferenziato. Distinguiamo almeno due sottogruppi: le società di consulenza IT, che condividono più somiglianze con il T-KIBS, mentre le società di consulenza gestionale sono più simili a P-KIBS. Le prove suggeriscono che le aziende di consulenza IT hanno un'implementazione più matura dell'innovazione aperta rispetto alle società di consulenza di gestione. Le società di consulenza IT si concentrano sullo sviluppo di ecosistemi dell'innovazione cambiando il loro ruolo da problem solver a cercatori di soluzioni. In terzo luogo, l'uso di Open Innovation for Innovation Management in PSF. A causa della natura della fornitura di servizi (coproduzione / co-creazione), le società di consulenza hanno sempre utilizzato processi di innovazione aperti perché consentono loro di avere ambidestro organizzativo. L'esplorazione avviene attraverso la personalizzazione di una soluzione per il cliente, mentre lo sfruttamento viene eseguito standardizzando inizialmente una soluzione per poi essere nuovamente personalizzata quando applicata a un altro progetto client. Questa ricerca propone anche una tassonomia delle strategie di innovazione aperta in uscita.
Innovation management in services: the case of consulting firms
LEMUS AGUILAR, ISAAC
Abstract
Innovation in consulting firms has missed specific attention in academic research. Consulting firms are usually considered to be part of Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS), Professional Service Firms (PSF) or Project-based Firms (PbF). Consulting firms usually help other companies to be innovative, but they also need to innovate themselves to survive in the market. However, consultancies possess characteristics that do not correspond to generalizations made in previous studies. Some recent service innovation models have been identified but none of them focuses exclusively on service innovation in the context of consulting firms. The research explores how firms organize to manage innovation from a process perspective as well as its relationship with innovation dimensions and capabilities. It investigated the innovation processes in the context of consulting firms based on the interaction among main actors identified during the literature review from an internal (management, employees) and external (customers, competitors) perspective. In a lesser extent, other studies have also pointed out the role of other actors such as suppliers, competitors, universities, government, and society. Nonetheless, companies struggle to implement the best innovation strategy and innovation processes based on the wide range of options above mentioned. Companies tend to simplify reality by trying to control one single linear innovation process, but in fact, there are several innovation processes running at the same time. It is true that each of this innovation processes are generally related with one of the perspectives. Our results show that all these views are not mutually exclusive; on the contrary, many of them coexist or evolve into the other along the lifecycle of the company and its business circumstances. To achieve the research objective, the methodology follows three steps. Initially, a semi-quantitative literature review was conducted to get familiar with the state of the art in the field, identify gaps and draw a preliminary framework about the innovation processes in consulting firms. After that, a qualitative research strategy was used based on case studies. The first phase of the study was conducted in consulting firms from Italy between June and September 2015. The second phase of Study was realized in consulting firms from Spain between April and June 2016. We contacted around 60 companies via the university external relation offices, LinkedIn and personal networking. We selected companies from all ranges that had important projects and operation in both countries. In total, 15 consulting firms participated in our study (7 from Italy and 8 from Spain). There are three main contributions of this research. First, there are some peculiarities in the management of innovation in Professional Service Firms. Consulting firms have the challenge of using a mix of seven innovation processes as a solution to the strategic problem of innovation management, which are related to seven different drivers and sources of knowledge. PSF primary focus on innovating new services concepts and new technological delivery systems in an initial project with a client which are rather customized than standardized when this knowledge is reused to provide a solution to another client. Consulting Firms create new practices not only to provide new service offerings (operational capabilities) but also to adapt and renew their innovation capabilities (dynamic capabilities). Signaling user needs and co-producing and orchestrating are the main dynamic service innovation capabilities that distinguish consulting firms. Second, IT Consulting Firms manage innovation different when compared to Management Consulting Firms. Consulting Firms cannot be treated as an undifferentiated group. We distinguish at least two subgroups: IT Consulting Firms, which share more similarities with the T-KIBS, whilst Management Consulting firms are more similar to P-KIBS. Evidence suggest that IT Consulting firms have a more mature implementation of open innovation compared to Management Consulting Firms. IT Consulting Firms focus on the development of innovation ecosystems changing their role from problem solvers to solution seekers. Third, the use of Open Innovation for Innovation Management in PSF. Due to nature of the service provision (co-production/co-creation), consulting firms have always used open innovation processes because it allows them to have organizational ambidexterity. Exploration is done through the customization of a solution to the client, while the exploitation is performed by initially standardizing a solution to be later customized again when applied into another client project. This research also proposes a taxonomy of outbound open innovation strategies.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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Descrizione: PhD Thesis Isaac LEMUS AGUILAR
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/145706