Authorship: Arturo Callau Berenguer
Programme: Information and Knowldege Society
Lenguage: English
Supervisor: Dr Enric Serradell López and Dr Ana I. Jiménez Zarco
Departament / Institut: Doctoral School
Subjects: Social Sciences
Key words: innovation orientation, European Banks, multi-case study
Area of knowledge: Information and Knowledge Society
Abstract
Innovation management is present in the business discourse in a range of fields. However, academic literature has generally focused on technological and product innovations with limited coverage of innovation in service sectors such as banking. This study focuses on innovation in retail banking in Europe, a service industry facing an increasingly competitive landscape. To compete effectively, banks may introduce process/service/business model innovations. However, these innovations alone are insufficient to create long-term sustainable competitive advantage, as they limit innovation to narrow categories. Instead, there must be a collective set of understandings and beliefs ¿ pervasively accepted throughout the firm and likely to occur at all levels and in all functions ¿ that facilitates continual innovation to ensure long-term competitive advantage. This broader construct corresponds to the so-called innovation orientation framework. This study provides insight into how an innovation orientation perspective could lead to the integration of innovation across all areas of banks to create long-term sustainable competitive advantage.