Correspondence: C. Brooke Dobni, College of Commerce, University of Saskatchewan, 25 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5A7. Tel: +1 306 966 8442; Fax: +1 306 966 2516; e-mail: dobni@commerce.usask.ca

¹is the PotashCorp chair for Saskatchewan Enterprise at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. He is also a management consultant and has worked extensively with financial services organisations, helping them to establish service quality cultures and innovation orientations. He holds a PhD in marketing from the University of Bradford, UK. His articles on innovation, strategy and marketing can be found in many of the top journals, including the Journal of Financial Services Marketing.

Received 26 February 2006.

Abstract

Innovation is the new business mantra, and recent studies have suggested that there is a strong positive relationship between innovation, market positioning strategy and performance. Given the nature of the competitive landscape and the innovation disruption environment in the financial services industry, an innovation orientation can be effective in identifying and executing growth opportunities for organisations. This paper discusses the dynamics of innovation in the financial services industry and delineates the relationship between innovation and market-related strategy. It then introduces an innovation model that can be used as a platform by financial services organisations. The model identifies three areas of consideration — context, culture, and execution — that will help organisations in this industry to develop an innovation orientation.