Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The moderating effect of innovation protection mechanisms on the competitiveness of service firms

  • Empirical article
  • Published:
Service Business Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This empirical study examines the effectiveness of innovation protection mechanisms (IPMs) in capturing returns from innovation in service firms. To identify their effects, we set five types of IPMs (patents, other intellectual property rights, speed to market, secrecy, and complementary resources) as a moderator of the relationships between the innovation and firm competitiveness. Through a sample of service firms from the Korean Innovation Survey, the results of this study indicated that firm competitiveness cannot be influenced by service innovation alone but rather it is influenced by service innovation used in conjunction with IPMs other than patents. The results contribute to understanding innovation protection strategies for better competitiveness of service firms.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aguinis H (1995) Statistical power with moderated multiple regression in management research. J Manage 21(6):1141–1158

    Google Scholar 

  • Allred BB, Park WG (2007) The influence of patent protection on firm innovation investment in manufacturing industries. J Int Manage 13(2):91–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alvarez SA, Barney JB (2000) Entrepreneurial capabilities: a resource-based view. Entrepreneurship as Strategy: competing on the Entrepreneurial Edge. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Arora A, Ceccagnoli M, Cohen WM (2008) R&D and the patent premium. Int J Ind Organ 26(5):1153–1179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arundel A (2001) The relative effectiveness of patents and secrecy for appropriation. Res Polilcy 30(4):611–624

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Athanassopoulos A, Gounaris S, Stathakopoulos V (2001) Behavioural responses to customer satisfaction: an empirical study. Eur J Mark 35(5/6):687–707

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barney J (1991) Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. J Manage 17(1):99–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blind K, Edler J, Frietsch R, Schmoch U (2006) Motives to patent: empirical evidence from Germany. Res Polilcy 35(5):655–672

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brouwer E, Kleinknecht A (1999) Innovative output, and a firm’s propensity to patent: an exploration of CIS micro data. Res Polilcy 28(6):615–624

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chase RB (1978) Where does the customer fit in a service operation? Harv Bus Rev 56(6):137

    Google Scholar 

  • Chesbrough HW (2006) Open innovation: the new imperative for creating and profiting from technology. Harvard Business School Press, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Cho I, Park H, Choi J (2011) The impact of diversity of innovation channels on innovation performance in service firms. Serv Bus 5(3):277–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark TH, Stoddard DB (1996) Interorganizational business process redesign: merging technological and process innovation. J Manage Inform Syst 13(2):9–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen WM, Nelson RR, Walsh JP (2000) Protecting their intellectual assets: appropriability conditions and why US manufacturing firms patent (or not). NBER working paper

  • Coombs R, Miles I (2000) Innovation, measurement and services: the new problematique. Innovation systems in the service economy. Kluwer Academic Publisher, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Crevani L, Palm K, Schilling A (2011) Innovation management in service firms: a research agenda. Serv Bus 5(2):177–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Damanpour F, Gopalakrishnan S (2001) The dynamics of the adoption of product and process innovations in organizations. J Manage Stud 38(1):45–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • David PA (1993) Intellectual property institutions and the panda’s thumb: patents, copyrights, and trade secrets in economic theory and history. Global dimensions of intellectual property rights in science and technology. National Academies Press, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Edvardsson B, Olsson J (1996) Key concepts for new service development. Serv Ind J 16(2):140–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gans JS, Hsu DH, Stern S (2002) When does start-up innovation spur the gale of creative destruction? Rand J Econ 33(4):571–586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garmon CW (2002) Intellectual property rights: protecting the creation of new knowledge across cultural boundaries. Am Behav Sci 45(7):1145–1158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert JT, Birnbaum-More PH (1996) Innovation timing advantages: from economic theory to strategic application. J Eng Technol Manage 12(4):245–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant R (2002) Contemporary strategy analysis. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Malden

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammer M, Champy J (1994) Reengineering the corporation. Harper Collins, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanel P (2008) The use of intellectual property rights and innovation by manufacturing firms in Canada. Econ Innov New Technol 17(4):285–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harabi N (1995) Appropriability of technical innovations an empirical analysis. Res Polilcy 24(6):981–992

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harkness WL, Kettinger WJ, Segars AH (1996) Sustaining process improvement and innovation in the information services function: lessons learned at the Bose corporation. MIS Quart 20(3):349–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hipp C, Grupp H (2005) Innovation in the service sector: the demand for service-specific innovation measurement concepts and typologies. Res Polilcy 34(4):517–535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hipp C, Tether BS, Miles I (2000) The incidence and effects of innovation in services: evidence from Germany. Int J Innov Manage 4:417–454

    Google Scholar 

  • Howells J (2000) Innovation and services: new conceptual frameworks. CRIC Discussion Paper 38. Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition, Manchester

  • Hurmelinna-Laukkanen P, Ritala P, Blomqvist K, Henttonen K (2008) Protecting service innovations against imitation: the case of mobile TV. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 41: 416–425

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaw C, Lo JY, Lin YH (2010) The determinants of new service development: service characteristics, market orientation, and actualizing innovation effort. Technovation 30(4):265–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiménez-Zarco AI, Martínez-Ruiz MP, Izquierdo-Yusta A (2011) Key service innovation drivers in the tourism sector: empirical evidence and managerial implications. Serv Bus 5(4):339–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johne A, Storey C (1998) New service development: a review of the literature and annotated bibliography. Eur J Mark 32(3/4):184–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones MT (2002) Globalization and organizational restructuring: a strategic perspective. Thunderbird Int Bus Rev 44(3):325–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalyanaram G, Robinson WT, Urban GL (1995) Order of market entry: established empirical generalizations, emerging empirical generalizations, and future research. Mark Sci 14(3):212–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kardes FR, Kalyanaram G (1992) Order-of-entry effects on consumer memory and judgment: an information integration perspective. J Mark Res 29(3):343–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King DR, Covin JG, Hegarty WH (2003) Complementary resources and the exploitation of technological innovations. J Manage 29(4):589–606

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingston W (2001) Innovation needs patents reform. Res Polilcy 30(3):403–423

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavey WG (1982) Patents, copyrights, and trademarks as sources of market power in antitrust cases. Antitrust Bull 27(2):433–455

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee SM, Olson DL (2010) Convergenomics: Strategic innovation in the convergence era. Gower, Farnham

    Google Scholar 

  • Leiponen A, Byma J (2009) If you cannot block, you better run: small firms, cooperative innovation, and appropriation strategies. Res Polilcy 38(9):1478–1488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin RC, Klevorick AK, Nelson RR, Winter SG, Gilbert R, Griliches Z (1987) Appropriating the returns from industrial research and development. Brooking Pap Econ Act 3:783–831

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, Liu Y, Ren F (2007) Product innovation and process innovation in SOEs: evidence from the Chinese transition. J Technol Transf 32(1):63–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman MB, Montgomery DB (1988) First-mover advantages. Strateg Manage J 9(S1):41–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madison MJ (2000) Complexity and copyright in contradiction. Cardozo Arts Ent Law J 18(1):125–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Makadok R (1998) Can first-mover and early-mover advantages be sustained in an industry with low barriers to entry/imitation? Strateg Manage J 19(7):683–696

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maklan S, Knox S, Ryals L (2008) New trends in innovation and customer relationship management: a challenge for market researchers. Int J Mark Res 50(2):221–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Mangalindan J (2011) Groupon responds to LivingSocial swipe. CNN. Retrieved from http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/07/29/groupon-responds-livingsocial/. Accessed 27 Aug 2011

  • Mas-Verdú F (2007) Services and innovation systems: European models of technology centres. Serv Bus 1(1):7–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrath RG, Tsai MH, Venkataraman S, MacMillan IC (1996) Innovation, competitive advantage and rent: a model and test. Manage Sci 42(3):389–403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendonça S, Pereira TS, Godinho MM (2004) Trademarks as an indicator of innovation and industrial change. Res Polilcy 33(9):1385–1404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles I, Boden M (2000) Introduction: are services special. Services and the knowledge-based economy. Continuum, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Narayanan VK (2000) Managing technology and innovation for competitive advantage. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River

    Google Scholar 

  • Nieto M, Pérez-Cano C (2004) The influence of knowledge attributes on innovation protection mechanisms. Knowl Process Manage 11(2):117–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nijssen EJ, Hillebrand B, Vermeulen PAM, Kemp RGM (2006) Exploring product and service innovation similarities and differences. Int J Res Mark 23(3):241–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2005) Oslo manual-guidelines for collecting and interpreting innovation data. Eurostat, Luxembourg

    Google Scholar 

  • Päällysaho S, Kuusisto J (2008) Intellectual property protection as a key driver of service innovation: an analysis of innovative KIBS businesses in Finland and the UK. Int J Serv Technol Manage 9(3–4):268–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peteraf MA (1993) The cornerstones of competitive advantage: a resource-based view. Strateg Manage J 14(3):179–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pianta M (2005) Innovation and employment. The Oxford handbook of innovation. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed R, DeFillippi RJ (1990) Causal ambiguity, barriers to imitation, and sustainable competitive advantage. Acad Manage Rev 15(1):88–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Roofthooft W (2010) Customer equity: a creative tool for SMEs in the services industry: how small and medium enterprises can win the battle for innovation. Serv Bus 4(1):37–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roth AV, Jackson WE III (1995) Strategic determinants of service quality and performance: evidence from the banking industry. Manage Sci 41(11):1720–1733

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmoch U (2003) Service marks as novel innovation indicator. Res Eval 12(2):149–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sundbo J (1997) Management of innovation in services. Serv Ind J 17(3):432–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teece DJ (1986) Profiting from technological innovation: implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy. Res Polilcy 15(6):285–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tether B (2005) Do services innovate (differently)? Insights from the European innobarometer survey. Ind Innov 12(2):153–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tether B, Massini S (2007) Services and the information infrastructure. Innovation in service. DTI occasional paper 9, London

  • Tidd J, Bessant JR, Pavitt K (2005) Managing innovation: integrating technological, market and organizational change. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Tripsas M (1997) Unraveling the process of creative destruction: complementary assets and incumbent survival in the typesetter industry. Strateg Manage J 18(s1):119–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsai KH, Wang JC (2007) Inward technology licensing and firm performance: a longitudinal study. R&D Manage 37(2):151–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • VanderWerf PA, Mahon JF (1997) Meta-analysis of the impact of research methods on findings of first-mover advantage. Manage Sci 43(11):1510–1519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wernerfelt B (1986) A special case of dynamic pricing policy. Manage Sci 32(12):1562–1566

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2011-0011109).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information and Industrial Engineering, Yonsei University, Shinchon-Dong, Seodaemoon-Gu, Seoul, Korea

    Insu Cho, Heejun Park & Joseph Kichul Kim

Authors
  1. Insu Cho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Heejun Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Joseph Kichul Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heejun Park.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cho, I., Park, H. & Kim, J.K. The moderating effect of innovation protection mechanisms on the competitiveness of service firms. Serv Bus 6, 369–386 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-012-0140-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-012-0140-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation