Strategic adjustment between innovation and production: generation of integrated archetypes in Spanish service firms

Abstract

This paper investigates empirically the strategic alignment between innovation and production strategies in a sample of service firms in Spain. It employs the integrated archetypes approach to analyse a dataset of unique, manually collected, firm responses. The results highlight differences in behaviour patterns underpinning both kinds of strategic decisions and, coherent with alignment theory, differential firm performance.

Keywords:

• technology and innovation studies
• innovation strategy
• service industry competitiveness

Notes

See Venkatraman and Prescott (1990) for a literature review on this.

In Venkatraman's (1989) work, two alternative modes of concept and representation multivariables are pointed out: adjustment as deviation to ideal profile and covariation pattern.

See Camacho and Rodriguez (2008) for a overview of the complexity of measuring innovation in services and how the debate has evolved over the last decades.

In previous studies we observed that differences in output generated by service firms do not feature direct correspondence with the sector and therefore operating in a specific sector does not determine univocally the productive strategy (Elche and González 2007).

The analysis of the Spanish service sector is based on the NACE classification: 50, 51, 52, 55, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 70, 71, 73, 74, 85, 92, 93, and 95.

Camerdata is a company that provides current information on the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Shipping of Spain. SABI is a database of financial analyses of Spanish and Portuguese companies. This database obtains its information from the Mercantile Registration.

The survey was sent to managers, because they are directly involved in decision-making for the organisations, as well as in strategy formulation and development of company politics and were therefore considered the most appropriate persons to answer the questionnaire.

We attributed the response rate to the background of the managers in these firms and, in particular, to sensitivity with respect to research work owing to higher qualification levels.

This method was used by Hambrick (1983) in an exploratory analysis of adjustment patterns in two samples (success and failure) of companies.