Arafa Gebreil Musa

This study investigates the relationship between strategic orientations and innovation within the Sudanese service sector: hospitality, postal, bank, education, communication, and insurance spheres. Drawing upon the resource-based view, the paper examines the influence of market, service, and learning orientations on both incremental and radical innovation. Moreover, the study explores the moderating role of technological capabilities in this relationship. A quantitative research design was employed, utilizing a convenience sample of 160 managers from various service sub-sectors in Sudan. Empirical findings reveal that market orientation, service orientation, and learning orientation have a significant effect on incremental innovation (estimates = 0.164, p = 0.00; estimates = .177, p = .014). In addition, market and service orientations demonstrate a significant relationship with technological capabilities (estimates = 0.612, p = 0.00; estimates = –.376, p = .018). Further, incremental innovation and radical innovation significantly correlated with technological capabilities (estimates = .131, p = 0.00; estimates = .365, p = 0.00), while service orientation and learning orientation do not have a significant correlation with radical innovation (estimates = .153, p =.129; estimates = .061, p = .491). Learning orientation does not have a significant correlation with technological capabilities (estimates = .168, p > .228). Furthermore, results indicate that technological capabilities do not moderate the relationship between strategic orientation and service innovation.

Acknowledgment
The author would like to thank Deanship of Scientific Research at Majmaah University for supporting this work under Project No. R-2024-1367.