Inter-organizational information systems adoption for service innovation in building sector

Abstract

The building sector has experienced a significant decline in recent years in Spain and Europe as a result of the financial crisis that began in 2007. This drop accompanies a low penetration of information and communication technologies in inter-organizational oriented business processes. The market decrease is causing a slowdown in the building sector, where only flexible small and medium enterprises (SMEs) survive thanks to specialization and innovation in services, which allow them to face new market demands. Inter-organizational information systems (IOISs) support innovation in services, and are thus a strategic tool for SMEs to obtain competitive advantage. Because of the inherent complexity of IOIS adoption, this research extends Kurnia and Johnston's (2000) theoretical model of IOIS adoption with an empirical model of IOIS characterization. The resultant model identifies the factors influencing IOIS adoption in SMEs in the building sector, to promote further service innovation for competitive and collaborative advantages. An empirical longitudinal study over six consecutive years using data from Spanish SMEs in the building sector validates the model, using the partial least squares technique and analyzing temporal stability. The main findings of this research are the four ways an IOIS might contribute to service innovation in the building sector. Namely: a) improving client interfaces and the link between service providers and end users; b) defining a specific market where SMEs can develop new service concepts; c) enhancing the service delivery system in traditional customer-supplier relationships; and d) introducing information and communication technologies and tools to improve information management.

SMEs and Marketing: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Much attention is drawn to the difference between the collection of formal and informal information: although several studies highlighted that the majority of SMEs do not adopt formal market research activities, more structured approaches, such as potential and existing customer surveys (Reynolds and Lancaster ; West and Noel ), seem to achieve better performance than informal processes (Chaparro‐Peláez et al . ; Kawakami et al . ; Simsek et al .…”

A Systematic Review of the Literature on Open Innovation in SMEs

“…Several publications regarding the adoption of OI practices have studied the ways in which the implementation of OI by SMEs can be facilitated. Most notably, authors have focused on the importance of well-developed intellectual property regimes (Bianchi et al, 2010) and digita lization (e.g., collaborative innovation management tools) (Chaparro-Peláez et al, 2014;Garcia and Barcena, 2010;Saetta et al, 2013;Schuurman et al, 2016;Williams et al, 2012). Gagliardi (2013) and Garcia and Barcena (2010), for instance, discuss the value of the use of Web 2.0, which is a userfriendly web-based application, that enables SMEs to effectively manage collaborative projects.…”

“…More so than in the analyses of manufacturing industries, the role of digital tools supporting OI and stimulating interconnectedness among partners is particularly stressed by researchers investigating service industries, such as tourism (Carlisle et al, 2013;Chaparro-Peláez et al, 2014). Vanhaverbeke (2012Vanhaverbeke ( , 2017 has been studying OI in low-tech and medium-tech industries, such as the bicycle parts industry, the textile industry, quilts and pillows, radiators, etc.…”

The holographic service innovation in technological context

“…This view implies that technological perspective to service innovation is optional and can even be eliminated from the business models . However, advocates of the view that creation of a new service is based on the technological approach, rely on the assumption that technology categorically underpins the nature of innovation in service (Ulrich and Eppinger, 1995, Gallouj, 1998, Tether, 2001, Sundbo et al, 2007, Wu, 2014, Chaparro-Pelaez et al, 2014. This is claimed that service innovation achievement is based upon the value created in collaboration among providers, customers and business partners , Hunt and Morgan, 1996, Dominguez-Péry et al, 2013.…”

“…In this layer, employees are encouraged to think free about service concept and share their own ideas with organization. In the layer of inter-organizational collaborations, service innovation will be evaluated by partners to investigate the likelihood of the primary service offering success (Chaparro-Pelaez et al, 2014). The interaction with competitors is also the other way to ensure that the new service offering is good enough to be introduced to customers.…”