Exploring the Role and Barriers to Innovation Management in New Ventures

Abstract

This dissertation explores the problem of innovation management within the Fintech new ventures in Saudi Arabia. To achieve the research objective, a mono-method qualitative study was performed. The researcher used semi-structured interviews to interview 15 leaders and managers working for five different new Fintech ventures in Saudi Arabia. The interviews were conducted through Zoom and lasted between 14 and 32 minutes each. The audio recorded interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. According to the thematic analysis, impact of the founding organisation (conflicting leadership ideas, allocated and limited finding), resource constraints (financial, knowledge), local regulatory requirements, and long idea incubation time appear to be the key barriers. The study does not find a strong support for the liability of newness hypothesis, thus, concluding that the latter represents a more relevant problem for start-ups rather than new ventures. The results also indicate that an approach toward innovation management in a new venture is inherited from the founder organisation, and that standardisation and a formalised process are important for managing innovation in Fintech. The new ventures also use creative problem-solving techniques and networking the elements of innovation management strategy. Based on the results, this dissertation formulates a number of recommendations to improve innovation management in Fintech sector of Saudi Arabia; local government has to increase its role in supporting entrepreneurship through creating more incubators and regulatory sandboxes.