Title: Innovation management in consulting firms: identifying innovation processes, capabilities and dimensions

Authors: Antonio Hidalgo; Isaac Lemus-Aguilar; Alberto Urueña

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, Business Administration and Statistics, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Business Administration and Statistics, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Business Administration and Statistics, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain

Abstract: Consulting firms are considered part of knowledge-intensive business services, in which expert knowledge plays a crucial input in the provision of service. Using a multi-case study, this study aims to improve understanding of how consulting firms strategically manage innovation processes and which capabilities and dimensions they focus on to deliver innovation, based on interaction among the main actors from both an internal and external perspective. Consulting firms tend to simplify reality, but several innovation processes take place at the same time. Results show that these views are not mutually exclusive; on the contrary, many of them coexist over the lifecycle of the firm and its particular business conditions. The challenge for innovation in consulting firms is achieving a balance between generating incremental change by exploiting current knowledge and creating radical innovations by exploring new ideas at the same time.

Keywords: innovation management; innovation process; innovation capabilities; innovation dimensions; consulting firms.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2021.113229

European Journal of International Management, 2021 Vol.15 No.2/3, pp.415 - 430

Received: 23 Apr 2018
Accepted: 21 Aug 2018
Published online: 25 Feb 2021 *

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