How Service Firms Manage Innovation

Author(s):  
Frederic Jallat

By acknowledging the strategic importance of developing and managing new activities in the service sector, the chapter studies the key business dimensions and performance drivers of innovation, and the determinants of new service success. Therefore, this chapter seeks to address three objectives: (1) yield a critical synthesis of research linked to managing innovation in the service industry, (2) provide a detailed study of innovation management and success factors within the service sector, and (3) determine the links between the service development process and how new services perform.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Mu ◽  
Bart Bossink ◽  
Tsvi Vinig ◽  
Suchuan You

Purpose Research on service innovation management of online travel agencies (OTAs) remains relatively scarce. This study aims to illuminate the detailed components of managing service innovations at OTAs. Design/methodology/approach An in-depth case study is conducted at Trip, the largest OTA in China. A coherent framework of managing service innovations at OTAs is proposed through refining an existing framework from new service development (NSD), and concerning the success factors of service innovation. Based on theoretical synthesis and empirical analysis, the NSD framework is adapted, restructured and refined for service innovation management at OTAs. Findings The proposed framework contains three facets and associated managerial elements: (1) resources, including stakeholders, technologies and systems; (2) contexts, including innovation strategy, structure and culture; and (3) ideation, including idea generation and idea application. Different success factors are attached to the managerial elements. The facets, managerial elements and success factors serve as the components in the framework. Research limitations/implications This study provides academia with an analytical framework to understand and interpret service innovation management at OTAs, which can be used as a point of departure for future research. Practical implications The analytical framework inspires OTA managers to adopt a structured approach in service innovation management, and policymakers to design related interventions. Originality/value This study offers a first step toward the investigation of service innovation management at OTAs, specifically in China. The proposed framework is potentially applicable to other industries.


Author(s):  
Emine Kale

This chapter examines innovation and innovation management in the tourism industry. To this end, the chapter first defines innovation for businesses in the tourism industry and investigates the importance of innovation, characteristics of innovation in tourism businesses, and types of innovation. In addition, the stages of the innovation development process for successful innovation management in tourism businesses, the factors that prevent the development of innovation, and the success factors for the development of innovation are discussed. This chapter will contribute to the development of an insight into the importance of innovation in the tourism industry, which is highly dynamic, variable, and risky, and reveal the factors necessary for the creation and implementation of successful innovation programs.


Author(s):  
Karla F. Madrigal ◽  
Erwin Martinez Gomez ◽  
Salvador A. Noriega Morales ◽  
Vianey Torres-Arguelles ◽  
Roberto Romero López

At the global level, the service industry represents a critical component for the economy and its growth trend is above of the other sectors. This sector alone is responsible for 63% of the gross domestic product and 45.5% of labor occupation worldwide. Despite its role in modern economies, the sector receives very little attention. In the literature, the authors have found the efforts that have been made to increase the efficiency and productivity of this type of organizations: adapting philosophies, tools, and/or techniques that were born to achieve this goal in the manufacturing industry, such as Lean manufacturing, total quality management, six sigma, lean six sigma, among others. The objective of this study is to perform an exhaustive literature review of the critical success factors reported in diverse studies of the implementation of these tools or philosophies in the service sector, as well as their differences, similarities, and results.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiju Antony ◽  
Elisabeth Viles ◽  
Alexandre Fonseca Torres ◽  
Marcelo Machado Fernandes ◽  
Elizabeth A. Cudney

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to critically evaluate the current status of Design of experiments (DoE) in the service industry or non-manufacturing processes in the manufacturing sector. This involves the identification of critical success factors and challenges in the use of DoE in the context of the service industry as well as the key skills needed for its successful applications.Design/methodology/approachIn order to identify the critical success factors and challenges, an online survey instrument was developed and distributed across Six Sigma Black Belts (SSBB), Six Sigma Master Black Belts (SSMBB), process improvement champions, continuous improvement professionals, DoE experts and specialists as well as academics who are involved in DoE research and applications.FindingsA total of 109 participants from over 20 countries responded to the study. One of the first findings of the study is that over 40% of the process improvement professionals in the service sector do not have any hands-on experience with the application of DoE. Further, this study highlights the following critical factors for successful DoE applications: dedicating adequate resources in terms of time, budget and people for the experiment; getting a clear understanding of the problem at hand; securing a reliable and validated measurement system for measuring the response or quality characteristics of interest; and identifying input independent variables, which influence the quality characteristics during the brainstorming stage. Some respondents also mention the importance of having training or education in DoE as a critical success factor. At the same time, the lack of adequate planning to experimentation, mathematical knowledge and statistical reasoning remains as challenge to be solved.Research limitations/implicationsAs data were collected at an individual level, inter-reliability, which measures the consistency of judgements on a particular survey item, could not be gauged. Moreover, due to low sample size across some continents, an intercontinental comparative study on the extent of the application of DoE across various continents could not be performed.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first global survey carried out to understand the status of DoE in the service industry. The results of the global study can be used to encourage quality, continuous improvement and process improvement professionals in the service sector to drive wider acceptance of one of the most powerful tools in the Six Sigma toolkit for problem-solving scenarios. Moreover, senior managers in the service industry can take away some of the key benefits, challenges and success factors in the implementation of DoE.


Author(s):  
Michael Ottenbacher ◽  
Vivienne Shaw ◽  
David Ermen

This original empirical work examines the development process characteristics of small entrepreneurial service firms. The results of 12 interviews suggest that successful entrepreneurial innovation projects are the result of a five-stage process model. This entrepreneurial new service development process model differs somewhat from the proposed process models, focusing on large service corporations. Besides a more flexible and informal process for entrepreneurial services, the development cost and the final market price are strongly related to success.


2003 ◽  
Vol 07 (02) ◽  
pp. 189-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeroen P. J. de Jong ◽  
Ron Kemp

Innovation researchers increasingly pay attention to service industries, resulting in a large amount of literature on success factors in new service development. However, the role of individual co-workers in innovation is still underexposed. This paper investigated the drivers of innovative behaviour of individual co-workers, which is considered to be a major determinant of incremental innovation. From the literature seven constructs were derived that are often discussed as drivers of innovation, but have not been tested as determinants of individual co-workers' innovative behaviour. Survey data were collected from 360 persons working in knowledge-intensive service firms. Based on a regression analysis, it appeared that perceptions of job challenge, autonomy, strategic attention and external contacts are positively related to innovative behaviour of individual co-workers. Also, operating in a market where firms compete on differentiation had a positive impact. On the other hand, a firm climate supportive to innovation and a high variation in demand did not affect innovative behaviour in a direct manner.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Diyan Lestari ◽  
Basuki Toto Rahmanto

Abstract: The rapid development of technology has shifted consumer behavior which impact on business, including banking sector. It is expected that technology can be optimized to improve productivity and performance. In banking sector, technology plays important role to ease the financial transaction and minimize cost. In the digital age, most of individual activities are conducted by technology, including completing their financial transaction. Technology also helps to promote financial inclusion. Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic has leveraged the digital adoption into different level due to the social distancing practice. This study aims to investigate the fintech strategy to enter the financial service sector, and how bank response the fintech development. This study is a qualitative research which implemented depth interviews and content analysis. Moreover, this paper utilized both primary and secondary data in order to provide valid investigation. This study found that fintech is basically innovative, and promotes innovative strategy to enter the financial service industry, while banks have already prepared to compete in the digital age. Several strategies were formulated by banks to win the competition, including investing in software, hardware, and even in financial technology companies.       Kata kunci: fintech, banking, innovation


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fazli Idris ◽  
M. Muzamil Naqshbandi

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explain the components of competitive priorities of Indian service firms, to find out the competitive priorities of different service industries in India and to find out how these competitive priorities change across low- and high-performing service firms. Design/methodology/approach An empirical study of 166 firms from five different service industries is undertaken in New Delhi and its surroundings. Findings The results reveal the presence of three competitive priorities in the services sector in India: cost, flexibility and quality/delivery, with quality/delivery being the most distinctive competitive priority. Hotel and auto-repair industries are found to be focused on controlling costs, while hospitals, banks and private colleges prioritized quality/delivery. For high-performing firms, cost is the top most competitive priority, followed by quality/delivery and flexibility, while for low-performing firms, quality/delivery remains the top most competitive priority, followed by flexibility and cost. Originality/value The paper enhances the understanding of competitive priorities in the Indian services sector. The identification of competitive priorities of different service industries in India and their dynamics across different industries add value to the current literature and fill an important research gap. Additionally, surveying diverse industries in this paper reveals a holistic picture of the Indian service industry and helps achieve some degree of cross-industry perspective.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 132
Author(s):  
Ana Belén Tulcanaza-Prieto ◽  
Iliana E. Aguilar-Rodríguez ◽  
Carlos Artieda

This study examines how organizational culture influences corporate performance in the Ecuadorian service sector. The study employs four organizational culture features and twelve concepts for corporate performance using a self-designed online questionnaire, which were supplied to postgraduate students from academic programs at Universidad de Las Americas (UDLA) in Quito, Ecuador. The respondents were working as managers or employees in small Ecuadorian service firms. The operational items of the questionnaire to measure organizational culture and corporate performance were designed using the Denison model. The findings reveal a statistically positive relationship between organizational culture and firm performance. Moreover, involvement, adaptability, consistency, and mission affect the non-financial performance of the Ecuadorian service sector. Involvement is the critical determinant of the influence of organizational culture on corporate performance, while training shows the strongest association with organizational culture. This study provides a perspective on long-term organizational strategies, vision, and performance. Future research should include the characteristics of the studied firms to increase the effectiveness of the proposed model.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Baines ◽  
Helen Lawton Smith

University spin-offs (USOs) are an important firm class since they constitute an economically important sub-group of high-tech start-up firms: they have, consequently, engendered many academic studies. However, what the firms deliver by way of innovation in the form of new products and services has largely been missing from the academic entrepreneurship literature. By adopting a mixed research methodology of in-depth interviews and a survey, this study highlights key factors associated with the success of product and service development by USO firms in the United Kingdom – such as understanding customer needs, networks, clear market analysis, applications of technology, and the vision, mission and value of the company. The findings resonate with various studies in innovation management on the key elements of product and service performance predictors. The article also helps to fill a gap in the academic entrepreneurship literature by providing an understanding beyond the success factors in setting up USOs. The study should therefore raise the awareness of and benefit various actors (e.g. academic entrepreneurs and technology transfer offices) with regard to the provision of the activities and skills required to develop products and services successfully.


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