Patterns of innovation organisation in service firms: postal survey results and theoretical models

This paper is based on a postal survey of innovation in services carried out in France.It seeks to account for the modes of organisation of innovation processes.It addresses the following themes: the sources of information, the internal and external actors involved in innovation, the costs and duration of projects, the realisation of R&D activity, experimentation and innovation protection systems.Statistical data are used to test the validity of a certain number of theoretical models of the organisation of innovation, in particular the professionals in partnership model, the managerial model, the traditional industrial model, the neo-industrial model, the entrepreneurial model and the artisanal or craft model.