Boosting Service Innovation: The Role of Consultancies

Main Article Content

Manuela Rezende Pinto
Irina Saur-Amaral
Carlos Brito

Abstract

This paper seeks to make a particular contribution in what are the roles of consultancies as key innovation intermediaries in service industry. In line with previous literature, the research purposes to test the application of Pinto et al (2016) framework within service companies, triangulating the findings of Pinto et al (2017). Four in-depth case studies of service companies were developed, resulting on detailed descriptions of the phenomenon using constructs to order the data and relate to earlier literature. Key findings highlight changes in motivations for consultancy engagement, from an initial focus on knowledge (output) to a focus on methodology (process). The adequacy of the framework proposed by Pinto et al (2016) is confirmed, and a new function of intermediaries arises from this study, related with “evaluation of innovation outcomes”. The study highlights the contribution of consultancies in preparing companies to innovate.

Article Details