IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ijecbs/v17y2010i3p289-311.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Social Software Support Service Innovation?

Author

Listed:
  • Jenny Meyer

Abstract

Recent Internet technologies and web-based applications, such as social software, are being increasingly applied in firms. Social software can be employed for knowledge management and for external communication enabling access to internal and external knowledge. Knowledge, in turn, constitutes one of the main inputs to service innovation. Hence, social software has the potential to support service innovation. Using data from German IT and knowledge-intensive service firms, this is the first paper that empirically analyses whether the use of social software applications triggers innovation. It refers to a knowledge production function in which social software use constitutes the knowledge sourcing activity. The results reveal a positive relationship between social software and service innovation. Since this result is robust when controlling for former innovative activities and the previous propensity to adopt new technologies and to change processes, the analysis suggests that the causality runs from social software to innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Jenny Meyer, 2010. "Does Social Software Support Service Innovation?," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 289-311.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ijecbs:v:17:y:2010:i:3:p:289-311
    DOI: 10.1080/13571516.2010.513814
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13571516.2010.513814
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13571516.2010.513814?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andreas Koch & Harald Strotmann, 2006. "Determinants of Innovative Activity in Newly Founded Knowledge Intensive Business Service Firms," International Studies in Entrepreneurship, in: Michael Fritsch & Juergen Schmude (ed.), Entrepreneurship in the Region, chapter 10, pages 195-224, Springer.
    2. Elisabeth Mueller & Alexandra Spitz‐Oener, 2006. "Managerial Ownership and Company Performance in German Small and Medium‐Sized Private Enterprises," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 7(2), pages 233-247, May.
    3. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    4. Georg Licht & Dietmar Moch, 1999. "Innovationa and information technology in services," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 32(2), pages 363-383, April.
    5. Bronwyn Hall & Jacques Mairesse, 2006. "Empirical studies of innovation in the knowledge-driven economy," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4-5), pages 289-299.
    6. Crepon, B. & Duguet, E. & Mairesse, J., 1998. "Research Investment, Innovation and Productivity: An Econometric Analysis at the Firm Level," Papiers d'Economie Mathématique et Applications 98.15, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    7. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Productivity and R&D at the Firm Level," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 100-133, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Gallouj, Faiz & Weinstein, Olivier, 1997. "Innovation in services," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4-5), pages 537-556, December.
    9. Zvi Griliches, 1984. "R&D, Patents, and Productivity," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gril84-1, March.
    10. Bettina Peters, 2009. "Persistence of innovation: stylised facts and panel data evidence," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 226-243, April.
    11. Aija Leiponen, 2005. "Organization of Knowledge and Innovation: The Case of Finnish Business Services," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 185-203.
    12. Barras, Richard, 1993. "Interactive innovation in financial and business services: The vanguard of the service revolution," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 101-102, April.
    13. Philippe Aghion & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt & Susanne Prantl, 2009. "The Effects of Entry on Incumbent Innovation and Productivity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(1), pages 20-32, February.
    14. Thomas Hempell, 2005. "Does experience matter? innovations and the productivity of information and communication technologies in German services," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 277-303.
    15. Pim Den Hertog, 2000. "Knowledge-Intensive Business Services As Co-Producers Of Innovation," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 4(04), pages 491-528.
    16. Cantner, Uwe & Joel, Kristin & Schmidt, Tobias, 2011. "The effects of knowledge management on innovative success – An empirical analysis of German firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 1453-1462.
    17. Rachel Griffith & Elena Huergo & Jacques Mairesse & Bettina Peters, 2006. "Innovation and Productivity Across Four European Countries," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 22(4), pages 483-498, Winter.
    18. Zoltan J. Acs & Luc Anselin & Attila Varga, 2008. "Patents and Innovation Counts as Measures of Regional Production of New Knowledge," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 11, pages 135-151, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Irene Bertschek & Ulrich Kaiser, 2004. "Productivity Effects of Organizational Change: Microeconometric Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(3), pages 394-404, March.
    20. Roper, Stephen & Du, Jun & Love, James H., 2008. "Modelling the innovation value chain," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6-7), pages 961-977, July.
    21. Christina Christensen & Mats G. Magnusson & Marie B. Zetherstrom, 2006. "Implementation and use of collaborative product development systems," International Journal of Management and Decision Making, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 7(6), pages 574-585.
    22. Loof, Hans & Heshmati, Almas, 2002. "Knowledge capital and performance heterogeneity: : A firm-level innovation study," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 61-85, March.
    23. James Love & Stephen Roper, 1999. "The Determinants of Innovation: R & D, Technology Transfer and Networking Effects," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 15(1), pages 43-64, August.
    24. Bruno Crepon & Emmanuel Duguet & Jacques Mairesse, 1998. "Research, Innovation And Productivity: An Econometric Analysis At The Firm Level," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 115-158.
    25. Ian Miles, 1995. "Innovation in Services," Chapters, in: Mark Dodgson & Roy Rothwell (ed.), The Handbook of Industrial Innovation, chapter 18, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    26. Elisabeth Mueller & Alexandra Spitz‐Oener, 2006. "Managerial Ownership and Company Performance in German Small and Medium‐Sized Private Enterprises," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 7(2), pages 233-247, May.
    27. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Issues in Assessing the Contribution of Research and Development to Productivity Growth," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 17-45, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2000. "Beyond Computation: Information Technology, Organizational Transformation and Business Performance," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 23-48, Fall.
    29. Rinaldo Evangelista, 2000. "Sectoral Patterns Of Technological Change In Services," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 183-222.
    30. Ariel Pakes & Zvi Griliches, 1984. "Patents and R&D at the Firm Level: A First Look," NBER Chapters, in: R&D, Patents, and Productivity, pages 55-72, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    31. Spyros Arvanitis, 2008. "Explaining Innovative Activity In Service Industries: Micro Data Evidence For Switzerland," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 209-225.
    32. Bruce Tether, 2005. "Do Services Innovate (Differently)? Insights from the European Innobarometer Survey," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 153-184.
    33. Barras, Richard, 1990. "Interactive innovation in financial and business services: The vanguard of the service revolution," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 215-237, June.
    34. Mark Freel, 2006. "Patterns of Technological Innovation in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 335-358.
    35. Meyer, Jenny, 2008. "The Adoption of New Technologies and the Age Structure of the Workforce," ZEW Discussion Papers 08-045, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    36. Czarnitzki, Dirk & Wastyn, Annelies, 2009. "Does professional knowledge management improve innovation performance at the firm level?," ZEW Discussion Papers 09-067, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    37. Geroski, P A, 1990. "Innovation, Technological Opportunity, and Market Structure," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 586-602, July.
    38. Flaig, Gebhard & Stadler, Manfred, 1994. "Success Breeds Success. The Dynamics of the Innovation Process," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 55-68.
    39. Mark Rogers, 2004. "Networks, Firm Size and Innovation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 141-153, March.
    40. Jon Sundbo, 1997. "Management of Innovation in Services," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 432-455, July.
    41. repec:crs:wpaper:9833 is not listed on IDEAS
    42. Spyros Arvanitis & Juliette von Arx, 2004. "Bestimmungsfaktoren der Innovationstätigkeit und deren Einfluss auf Arbeitsproduktivität, Beschäftigung und Qualifikationsstruktur," KOF Working papers 04-91, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    43. Christiane Hipp & Bruce S. Tether & Ian Miles, 2000. "The Incidence And Effects Of Innovation In Services: Evidence From Germany," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 4(04), pages 417-453.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Frosch, Katharina & Göbel, Christian & Zwick, Thomas, 2011. "Separating wheat and chaff: age-specific staffing strategies and innovative performance at the firm level," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 44(4), pages 321-338.
    2. Tor Helge Aas & Karl Joachim Breunig & Katja Maria Hydle, 2017. "Exploring New Service Portfolio Management," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(06), pages 1-31, August.
    3. Tor Helge Aas & Nina Jentoft & Mikaela Vasstrøm, 2016. "Managing innovation of care services: An exploration of Norwegian municipalities," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1215762-121, December.
    4. Sarbu, Miruna, 2022. "Does telecommuting kill service innovation?," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    5. Pratyush Bharati & Abhijit Chaudhury, 2019. "Assimilation of Big Data Innovation: Investigating the Roles of IT, Social Media, and Relational Capital," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 1357-1368, December.
    6. Tor Helge Aas, 2016. "Open Service Innovation: The Case of Tourism Firms in Scandinavia," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 12(2), pages 53-75.
    7. Engelstätter, Benjamin & Sarbu, Miruna, 2011. "The adoption of social enterprise software," ZEW Discussion Papers 11-078, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    8. Sarbu, Miruna, 2013. "Does social software increase labour productivity?," ZEW Discussion Papers 13-041, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bettina Peters & Rebecca Riley & Iulia Siedschlag & Priit Vahter & John McQuinn, 2018. "Internationalisation, innovation and productivity in services: evidence from Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 154(3), pages 585-615, August.
    2. Wadho, Waqar & Chaudhry, Azam, 2022. "Innovation strategies and productivity growth in developing countries: Firm-level evidence from Pakistani manufacturers," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Crespi, Gustavo & Zuniga, Pluvia, 2012. "Innovation and Productivity: Evidence from Six Latin American Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 273-290.
    4. Sarbu, Miruna, 2022. "Does telecommuting kill service innovation?," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    5. Baumann, Julian & Kritikos, Alexander S., 2016. "The link between R&D, innovation and productivity: Are micro firms different?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1263-1274.
    6. Love, James H. & Roper, Stephen & Bryson, John R., 2011. "Openness, knowledge, innovation and growth in UK business services," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 1438-1452.
    7. Cassoni, Adriana & Ramada, Magdalena, 2010. "Innovation, R&D Investment and Productivity: Uruguayan Manufacturing Firms," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 1973, Inter-American Development Bank.
    8. Bettina Peters & Rebecca Riley & Iulia Siedschlag & Priit Vahter & John McQuinn, 2014. "Innovation and Productivity in Services: Evidence from Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom," JRC Working Papers on Corporate R&D and Innovation 2014-04, Joint Research Centre.
    9. Bronwyn Hall & Francesca Lotti & Jacques Mairesse, 2009. "Innovation and productivity in SMEs: empirical evidence for Italy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 13-33, June.
    10. Wadho, Waqar & Chaudhry, Azam, 2020. "Innovation Strategies and Productivity Growth in Developing Countries: Evidence from Pakistan," GLO Discussion Paper Series 466, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    11. João Alberto De Negri & Luiz Esteves & Fernando Freitas, 2007. "Knowledge production and firm growth in Brazil," Working Papers 0057, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Department of Economics.
    12. David B. Audretsch & Alexander S. Kritikos & Alexander Schiersch, 2020. "Microfirms and innovation in the service sector," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 997-1018, December.
    13. Cristiano Antonelli & Alessandra Colombelli, 2017. "The locus of knowledge externalities and the cost of knowledge," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(8), pages 1151-1164, August.
    14. Audretsch, David & Hafenstein, Marian & Kritikos, Alexander S. & Schiersch, Alexander, 2018. "Firm Size and Innovation in the Service Sector," IZA Discussion Papers 12035, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Antonio Musolesi & Jean-Pierre Huiban, 2010. "Innovation and productivity in knowledge intensive business services," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 63-81, August.
    16. Alarcón, José Carlos & Aguilar, Rocio & Galán, Jose Luis, 2019. "Determinants of innovation output in Spanish knowledge-intensive service firms: Stability analysis throughout the economic crisis of 2008," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 228-244.
    17. Fulvio Castellacci, 2011. "How does competition affect the relationship between innovation and productivity? Estimation of a CDM model for Norway," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(7), pages 637-658, August.
    18. Crass, Dirk, 2014. "The impact of brand use on innovation performance: Empirical results for Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 14-119, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    19. Wadho, Waqar & Chaudhry, Azam, 2018. "Innovation and firm performance in developing countries: The case of Pakistani textile and apparel manufacturers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7), pages 1283-1294.
    20. Cohen, Wesley M., 2010. "Fifty Years of Empirical Studies of Innovative Activity and Performance," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 129-213, Elsevier.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social Software; Web 2.0; Service Innovation; Knowledge Management;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:ijecbs:v:17:y:2010:i:3:p:289-311. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CIJB20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.