Understanding Challenges and Facilitating Knowledge Transfer for Service Innovation: Insights from a Survey of German Service Companies and a Use Case

Abstract

Innovation is one of the key elements for entrepreneurial success. Small and medium-sized service companies in particular continually innovate their offerings to remain competitive. To do this, they must constantly keep abreast of trends, the latest technological developments, and scientific methodologies. Due to a shortage of resources, they are often dependent on external support from information service providers. However, this knowledge transfer is subject to hurdles that are specific to small and medium-sized enterprises. This paper examines the knowledge transfer challenges faced by such service organizations. To this end, it first presents the results of a company survey and derives recommendations for information provision. The paper concludes with a practical example of a company using the latest technologies to innovate its service offering and how such information is made available to other companies.