Creativity Versus Standardization in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services: A Real Trade-Off?

Abstract

In the literature on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), scholars have debated the role and extent of their standardization, and two main stances have emerged. On the one hand, some studies explicitly deny the possibility of a service standardization and emphasize the relevance of customization: the value of KIBS lies in their capacity to offer tailored services capable of meeting their client’s needs concerning access to technical, commercial, or scientific knowledge (Miles, 1995; Muller and Doloreux, 2009). According to the literature on business services, it is in the nature of KIBS to differentiate their offering to suit their client’s requirements (den Hertog, 2000). On the other hand, other scholars have stressed the advantages of service standardization and specifically of KIBS (Tether et al., 2001). Through standardization, the service provider can increase productivity and adopt an industrial model of production similar to manufacturing firms. Standardization can lead to scale: service firms can increase in size and improve their growth by overcoming the Baumol’s disease problem (Baumol and Bowen, 1966).