Open innovation in services: knowledge sources, intellectual property rights and internationalization

Abstract

The paper investigates the direction of knowledge flows and, more generally, the pattern of open innovation that is taking place within services across Europe. Using the Eurostat Fourth Community Innovation Survey (CIS4) dataset, on 17 service sectors across 18 countries, we find significant differences between service innovation leaders and followers. Key findings are that a concentration of radical innovation is to be found mainly in knowledge-intensive research and development sectors; that leading innovators across all sectors tend to use intellectual property rights to protect their ideas; and that leading service innovators engage in international sales. We do not find evidence that external sources of information acquisition are significant in radical service product innovation. By contrast, innovation followers rely more extensively on external sourcing of knowledge and new ideas (with decreasing returns to innovation performance), and tend not to export. These findings contribute significantly to our understanding of the knowledge flows and the asymmetries in knowledge sharing in service sectors across Europe.

Innovation performance in service companies and KIBS vis-à-vis manufacturing: the relevance of absorptive capacity and openness

“…Recent studies confirm that not only are services more innovative than we imagined (Castro et al, 2011) but, in some fields, they are more innovative than the manufacturing industry average (Cáceres & Guzmán, 2014;Gallego, Gutiérrez, & Taborda, 2015; Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2005a), having a crucial and multivariate role in the current economy as providers, users, precursors and intermediaries in the innovation process (Battisti et al, 2015;Czarnitzski & Spielkamp, 2003).…”

“…Openness gives companies the possibility to expand their knowledge base in order to access advanced technology, new products and processes (Battisti et al, 2015). It fosters access to complementary assets, which might result in the creation and development of resources that would otherwise be hard to assemble and to develop.…”

“…Such abilities are frequently associated to the several dimensions of human capital (Schneider, Gunther, & Brandenbury, 2010;Vinding, 2006), internal (intramural) and external R&D (Battisti et al, 2015), (in-house) training (Leiponen, 2012), and the acquisition of new equipment Aurora A. C. Teixeira / Lilian Bezerra and machinery (Carvalho et al, 2013;Pires et al, 2008). A number of recent studies have called the attention for the issue of persistence in R&D engagement (see García-Quevedo, Pellegrino, & Vivarelli, 2014), that is, the engagement in R&D activities in a continuous, regular way.…”

“…Services and innovation have characterized the recent growth of world economies (Aboal, Bravo-Ortega, & Cresp, 2015;Battisti, Gallego, Rubalcaba, & Windrum, 2015). Against this backdrop, the service sector (significant, especially in developed economies) and innovation (the acknowledged engine of economic growth) emerge as a research field with an increasing highprofile and relevance (Djellal, Gallouj, & Miles, 2013;Lazzarotti, Manzini, Nosella, & Pellegrini, 2016).…”

Gamification in Proprietary Innovation: Identifying a Technical Framework Based on Patent Data.

“…Patents are one of the few real indicators of future product releases, revealing precise technical information long before inventions reach the marketplace [66]. Usually innovative products new to markets are often protected by patents [3], therewith incentivizing costly research and development [2]. Beneficially, it is public information, covers a comprehensive set of technologies in a standardized manner and is available for an extensive time period [54].…”