Innovation management in knowledge intensive service companies : a case study of Det Norske Veritas and TrygVesta

Abstract

Innovation has always remained a significant factor in the growth and development of the companies. Both manufacturing and service industries have been striving to innovate and enhance their business performance. With regards to innovation management, manufacturing companies have remained the prime subject of analysis. Despite the significant growth and value creation of the service industries generally speaking, and knowledge intensive services in particular, a major focus of research has been put on manufacturing industries. But for the last couple of years, knowledge intensive service companies have been attaining considerable attention due to their role for job creation in the developed countries. Knowledge intensive service companies like the one studied here have been increasingly utilising both internal and external resources in generating innovation (i.e. new ideas. knowledge, technology, R&D). When it comes to the idea generation and collection, the entire staff has been contributing to the idea generation process and innovation has not been confined to the R&D department. The companies have been increasingly collaborating with the external partners in order to generate extra resources. They have established best practice innovation management models in order to deal with the challenges of so called “open innovation”. These management models vary from company to company due to external environment or internal requirements.