Mobile tech: Superfood or super fad of Creative Business?

Abstract

Purpose - Creative agencies are well-known for pioneering technological transformation due its reliance on information and communication technology. Not surprisingly creative businesses are experimenting with mobile technology, but the extent and the scope of mobile technology deployment, and its impact on innovation practices are under explored. Therefore, the purpose of the paper is to explore the role of mobile technology deployment in innovation practices by, firstly, identifying how mobile technology is deployed in creative businesses and, secondly, discovering the behavioral differences in ways creative agencies deploy mobile technology to facilitate or stimulate innovation practices. Methodology - Innovation practices and mobile technology deployment are studied by interviewing creative business decision-makers from the 31 UK creative agencies. The evolved grounded theory approach is used to analyze the interviews data as well as complimentary documents shared by interviewees. Data was arranged, scanned, coded and categorized using NVivo 10 qualitative data analysis software. Findings - Applying a capability approach and service innovation practice theoretical perspectives, this grounded theory research discovered three clusters of creative agencies (Clusters A, B and C), which reflect on diverse practices of mobile technology deployment and its impact of innovation practices. Mobile technology is in fact a superfood that with the right combination of resources and capabilities delivers strategic benefits for creative business. We conclude that creative agencies deploy mobile technology extensively, and it is the interaction between mobile technology resources and mobile technology capabilities stimulate and facilitate process and product service innovation practices. A critical reflection on existing research findings against empirical results explaining mobile technology deployment in creative agencies has demonstrated overlaps and differences in the results. Results on mobile technology deployment overlap with research on fixed networks and stationary IT. However, no previous studies have explored how mechanisms of combining resources with capabilities affect service innovation practices. This study provides such insights, by specifically investigating the interaction between mobile technology resources and mobile technology capabilities and by reflection on practises across creative agencies. In particular distinct clusters have been identified which demonstrate that depending on organizational commitment of creative businesses to mobile technology deployment, interaction between mobile technology resources and mobile technology capabilities can lead to both service innovation practices, in particular process service innovation practices only (Cluster A) and both process service innovation practices and products service innovation practices (Clusters B and C). Practical Implications - The understanding of mobile technology deployment process that derives from this paper is particularly significant in showing creative businesses’ managers the real value in embracing mobile technology. Considering the clustering of creative agencies based on organisational commitment they have towards mobile technology deployment, this study signals that creative business decision-makers can deploy mobile technology to effectively manage operations or/and produce new solutions. Originality/Value/Contribution – This paper’s main theoretical contribution is in researching mobile technology deployment process using the capability approach. This study defines ‘mobile technology capabilities’ as a firm’s unique practices employed in orchestrating mobile technology resources to create a competitive advantage. Mobile technology capabilities consist of five distinct practices that firms perform to combine and integrate mobile technology resources into organisational processes, namely learning, leading, transforming, leveraging mobile technology resources and solving problems. Moreover, this study is first to integrate conceptually service innovation and mobile technology deployment by grounding this conceptualisation in empirical setting, which is creative agencies delivering advertising, marketing, digital design and digital architecture services.