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Abstract

Building on a diverse stream of literature, knowledge strategy and NSD in particular, the theory investigated in this research is that service firms can use knowledge strategy to improve the innovation performance of their business. Although scholars are now beginning to organise their research agendas around a set of explicit hypotheses concerning the causes and effects of knowledge intensive environments, knowledge management has only recently emerged as an explicit area of pursuit for managing firms. This research empirically investigated knowledge management activity in the context of NSD, and as such provides insight into a subject area previously lacking in rigorous empirical studies. Previous research in the field of NSD has tended to concentrate its focus on the financial services market. In contrast, this research drew its sample from a wider population and identified that many of the findings appear to be generalisable across a number of business markets, both in a consumer and business context. In adopting a knowledge-based view of a service business, this research conceptualised a notion of NSD Knowledge Environment( NKE) to represent the way in which knowledge supports the business' ability to develop new services across a NSD programme. The nine unique bundles of resources which comprise the NKE (knowledge depth; knowledge dispersion; NSD memory, personal interaction; climate of learning; creative climate; entrepreneurial climate; collaborative climate; goal climate) were found to be capable of yielding sustainable, above-normal business performance. The NKE was discovered to have a significant impact on the service business' overall NSD programme performance across four distinct measures: financial; new opportunities; customer responsiveness innovation. Whilst service firms were found to be aware of the importance of knowledge resources to their business, few had embraced a business-wide' framework, for managing- particular knowledge 'assets.' This research therefore indicates the importance of addressing the need for. a knowledge management framework targets specifically at NSD success. Whilst the NKE was discovered to have a'significant impact on the service business' overall ability to develop innovative new products supports the findings of previous research, interestingly, this research identified a multi-dimensional concept of innovativeness, comprising both measures of innovative outcomes and innovative processes. The more innovative NSD programmes were found to be more successful on many' other performance dimensions (financial'and nonfinancial) than their counterparts,i. e. innovative NSD programmes were more successful than their competition on all dimensions, aswell as having a very high percentage of sales and profits originating from new services introduced in the last three years. The overall implication of this research is that if a firm's scarcer resources are the source of improved economic performance, it follows that supportive knowledge practices and a supportive internal knowledge environment must be created to ensure these assets are leveraged successfully.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
Departments:	Bayes Business School Doctoral Theses Bayes Business School > Bayes Business School Doctoral Theses

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