Measuring innovation competencies for integrated services in the communications industry

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into, firms' innovation competencies and to develop an instrument to examine the key innovation competencies that contribute to integrated services. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected via the initial 80-item questionnaire given to innovation-related key figures within the Taiwanese communications industry (sample size 500; valid response rate 75.4 percent). The initial 80 items of innovation competencies and development procedures of measurement instrument were explored, exploited, and analyzed. The instrument validity of the multi-aspect innovation competencies measure was evaluated through assessing convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. Findings - Research results indicate that five-dimension and 17-item constructs the measurement instrument of innovation competencies for integrated services. An examination of individual dimensions' effect on "overall innovation competencies" shows that industry specific (0.45) is the most important dimension, followed by market related (0.23), technology related (0.14), product related (0.13), and organization related (0.13). Research limitations/implications - This study is conducted in only one industry (communications) and one country (Taiwan). Practical implications - Integration capabilities of different innovation competencies of a firm is vital for the successful development of integrated services, and out of all the innovation competencies, industry-specific innovation competencies are the most important. A firm should then identify potential markets and trends and fully utilize their human resource capabilities to develop innovative services, along with senior executives' awareness and acceptance of risk. Originality/value - This paper may be the first to identify the measurement instrument of innovation competencies for integrated services and will expand the scope of service innovation research.