Factors of the innovation activity in the service sector

<p align="center"><strong>Abstract.</strong></p><p align="center">&nbsp;</p><p>This paper analyses the innovation activity of the employees in the service sector. <strong><em>The problem</em></strong> here to be studied is the lack of the research of the innovation activity in the service sector.</p><p><strong><em>The principal aim</em></strong> of this paper is to determine the main significant factors influencing the innovation activity of the employees in the service sector.</p><p><strong><em>The major tasks</em></strong> of the study are:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-left:36pt;">v To compare the level of the innovation activity in the service sector with the innovation activity in the other sectors.</p><p style="margin-left:36pt;">v To define the incentives of the&nbsp; employees who demonstrate the innovative activity.</p><p style="margin-left:36pt;">v To examine the obstacles that prevent the innovative activity of the employees in the service sector.</p><p style="margin-left:36pt;">v To define the connection between social and individual characteristics of the employee and its innovation activity.</p><p style="margin-left:36pt;">v To define the connection between the internal social and economic characteristics of the company and the employee&rsquo;s innovation activity.</p><p style="margin-left:36pt;">v To define the connection between the external social and economic characteristics of the environment and the employee&rsquo;s innovation activity.</p><p style="margin-left:36pt;">&nbsp;</p><p>The empirical base of this paper will be quantitative and qualitative data obtained from interviews of employees of different companies in Russia. The data for the first part of the study (qualitative research) were received by the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration in 2010. The data for the second part of the research (quantitative research) were received by surveying employees of the service sector.</p><p>The data from the Presidential Academy contain answers of employees of different companies about their individual characteristics as well as about their attitude to innovations and their innovation activity. In the present study, this data are analyzed in SPSS by making regressions with following variables: the dependent variable &ndash; innovation activity, and the independent variables - range of influencing determinants.</p><p align="center"><strong><em>Results of the survey.</em></strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Firstly, it can be concluded that the innovation activity of the employee depends on many factors. The main factors are: the individual traits of the employee, working skills, the characteristics of the company, the personal attitude of the top-managers to innovations, the external conditions of the environment.</p><p>Secondly, different types of the innovations depend on different factors. For example, for implementation such an innovation as new market exploration the external environment and working skills of the employee are very important. &nbsp;For the new product and service exploration, external environment is not so important, but personal traits and working skills of the employee play a great role. New technology development depends on the financial aspect. For the implementation organizational innovations, many different factors are important.</p><p>Finally, the results of the study provide an information about barriers to innovations in the service sector. The main result is that the innovation activity of the employees mostly depends on the four features of the top-managers or CEO: attitude to innovations, financing, and difficulties of the persuasion in the necessity of the innovation implementation.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>