Inter-organizational relationships and innovation: A case study on the financial services industry

Sartori, Priscila P.; Facco, Ana L. R.; Garrido, Ivan L.

doi:10.1590/1678-6971/eRAMR220110.en

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Resources and Entrepreneurial Development • RAM, Rev. Adm. Mackenzie 23 (2) • 2022 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-6971/eRAMR220110.en copy

Inter-organizational relationships and innovation: A case study on the financial services industry

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Purpose:

The purpose of this study is to understand how inter-organizational relationships can contribute to innovation in service firms, by identifying practices used in a given alliance or dyad.

Originality/value:

Literature development on inter-organizational relationships and innovation confirms that this debate has become relevant in management studies. However, given the variety of drivers in this process, we identified the need for an in-depth understanding of the role of inter-organizational relations in innovation, a gap that this study sought to fill. Much of the knowledge on innovation management stems from the understanding of manufacturing industries, requiring a greater understanding of the management process, strategy and practices in the service industry. Based on this, this study offers theoretical and managerial contributions.

Design/methodology/approach:

We carried out a single case study, through an exploratory qualitative approach, with a focus on a strategic alliance between a startup and a traditional bank in the Brazilian financial industry.

Findings:

Motivations for engaging in an alliance, selection of partners, practices adopted for sharing complementary resources, including knowledge, collaboration and learning were identified in the case under analysis as factors that favored both the creation of an environment of innovation and the innovation results for both companies.

Keywords:
inter-organizational relationships; partnerships; innovation; services; strategy

Entrevistado	Cargo	Empresa	Tempo de empresa
E01	Solutions manager - strategy and innovation area	Bank A	18 years
E02	Business advisor - strategy and innovation area	Bank A	9 years
E03	Solutions manager - digital businesses and innovation area	Bank A	16 years
E04	Chief operating officer (COO)	Startup B	3.5 years

Category	Subcategory	References
Strategy	Engagement in alliances, partnerships, and selection of partners, inter-organizational relationships, search for resource sharing.	Qi Dong et al. (2017)Qi Dong, J., McCarthy, K. J., & Schoenmakers, W. W. (2017). How central is too central? Organizing interorganizational collaboration networks for breakthrough innovation. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 34(4), 526-542.
Management	Collaborative process: synergy, access to complementary resources.	Schoenmakers and Duysters (2010)Schoenmakers, W., & Duysters, G. (2010). The technological origins of radical inventions. Research Policy, 39(8), 1051-1059., Qi Dong et al. (2017)Qi Dong, J., McCarthy, K. J., & Schoenmakers, W. W. (2017). How central is too central? Organizing interorganizational collaboration networks for breakthrough innovation. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 34(4), 526-542., Dyer et al. (2018)Dyer, J. H., Singh, H., & Hesterly, W. S. (2018). The relational view revisited: A dynamic perspective on value creation and value capture. Strategic Management Journal, 39(12), 3140-3162., and Dias et al. (2019)Dias, C., Hoffmann, V. E., & Martínez-Fernández, M. T. (2019). Resource complementarities in R&D network for innovation performance: Evidence from the agricultural sector in Brazil and Spain. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 22(2), 193-213.
	Processes that involve spillover, knowledge sharing, and creation.	Wang et al. (2017)Wang, C. C., Sung, H. Y., Chen, D. Z., & Huang, M. H. (2017). Strong ties and weak ties of the knowledge spillover network in the semiconductor industry. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 118, 114-127., Griliches (1991)Griliches, Z. (1991). The search for R&D spillovers [Working Paper nº w3768]. National Bureau of Economic Research., and Smith (1994)Smith, S. C. (1994). Innovation and market strategy in Italian industrial cooperatives: Econometric evidence on organizational comparative advantage. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 23(3), 303-320.
	Adopted practices (recurrence, interactions)‑	Dyer and Singh (1998)Dyer, J. H., & Singh, H. (1998). The relational view: Cooperative strategy and sources of interorganizational competitive advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23(4), 660-679. and Yström et al. (2019)Yström, A., Ollila, S., Agogué, M., & Coghlan, D. (2019). The role of a learning approach in building an interorganizational network aiming for collaborative innovation. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 55(1), 27-49.
	Learning	Yström et al. (2019)Yström, A., Ollila, S., Agogué, M., & Coghlan, D. (2019). The role of a learning approach in building an interorganizational network aiming for collaborative innovation. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 55(1), 27-49., Goes and Park (1997)Goes, J. B., & Park, S. H. (1997). Interorganizational links and innovation: The case of hospital services. Academy of Management Journal, 40(3), 673-696., Lee et al. (2010)Lee, S., Park, G., Yoon, B., & Park, J. (2010). Open innovation in SMEs; An intermediated network model. Research Policy, 39(2), 290-300., and Pouwels and Koster (2017)Pouwels, I., & Koster, F. (2017). Inter-organizational cooperation and organizational innovativeness: A comparative study. International Journal of Innovation Science, 9(2), 184-204.
Innovation	New products/services, new processes for creation and provision, new markets accessed by firms, new forms of using knowledge, and new organizational arrangements, as well as significant improvements in these aspects, in order to create value for companies.	Hynes and Elwell (2016)Hynes, N., & Elwell, A. D. (2016). The role of inter-organizational networks in enabling or delaying disruptive innovation: A case study of mVoIP. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 31(6), 722-731., Francis and Bessant (2005)Francis, D., & Bessant, J. (2005). Targeting innovation and implications for capability development. Technovation, 25(3), 171-183., Toivonen and Tuominen (2009)Toivonen, M., & Tuominen, T. (2009). Emergence of innovations in services. The Service Industries Journal, 29(7), 887-902., and Hertog (2000)Hertog, P. D. (2000). Knowledge-intensive business services as co-producers of innovation. International Journal of Innovation Management, 4(4), 491-528.

Alliance strategies and practices	Impacts perceived on innovation
People module	•Training of bank A’s leaders and innovation teams in agile methods used by startups to develop solutions and new businesses, creating process innovations, both by adopting new working methods and improving the existing ones. Direct impact on building managerial skills for innovation. •Mentoring for startups by bank A’s employees with greater experience in the market, leading to improvements in startups’ products/services and processes. • Impacts on bank A’s innovation culture.
Business module	•Holding events for the ecosystem, searching for new strategic partners (bank A and startups), and learning about this relationship model, such as open innovation practices, change of practices in hiring models, network expansion, generating process innovations, and building innovation capacities.
Innovation module	•Learning about startup acceleration processes, partnerships, and actions for the innovative ecosystem, generating innovations in management processes and creating a new innovation context, contributing to building capacities for innovation in both companies.

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[1] Author notes

Priscila P. Sartori is now a doctoral student at the Postgraduate Program in Management of University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (Unisinos); Ana L. R. Facco is now a doctoral student at the Postgraduate Program in Management of Unisinos; Ivan L. Garrido is now a professor at the Postgraduate Program in Management of Unisinos.