Purpose
Considering the importance of services and innovation for the modern economy and the peculiarities that differentiate services from tangible goods, the purpose of this paper is to better understand how, based on the capabilities approach, innovation takes place in services.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative multi-case study was conducted in five instances of innovation in the fitness market, using a semi-structured questionnaire as devised in Zawislak et al. (2014).
Findings
The results show that the traditional capabilities framework is limited in explaining service innovation, as there are many levels of intangibility and non-linearity in service provision. Cases show that it is not possible to think of capabilities linearly in the service context. The authors propose that capabilities overlap, and the results show that this is a more accurate way of describing service dynamics. An alternative framework is suggested based on field findings, and a set of propositions are made for future research.
Originality/value
For many years, services were perceived as non-innovative, complementary activities, geared mainly towards the production of goods. The value of this study is to investigate a topic (innovation) that is widely studied in the industrial sector in a service context, contributing to a largely unexplored field.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of a Support Program to Innovative Entrepreneurship on the competitive development of the supported companies. We carried out a study about the PRIME Program – First Innovative Company –, realized by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) of Brazil and its Studies and Projects Financing agency (FINEP), in partnership with Incubators, from the standpoint of the companies favored by the program, with a focus on competitive development and local development. Therefore, we decided to apply a qualitative study of multiple cases on the companies selected through RAIAR incubator, of Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS). The data analysis helped understand the impact of the program on the studied companies, as well as observe the indicators that were mostly influenced by the program. The results may contribute to the National Innovation Systems (SNI) and related public policies.
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