Book Description

In the most advanced service economies, services create up to three-quarters of the wealth and 85% of employment, and yet we know relatively little about managing innovation in this sector. The critical role of services, in the broadest sense, has long been recognized, but is still not well understood. Most research and management prescriptions have been based on the experience of manufacturing and high technology sectors. There is a clear need to distinguish which, if any, of what we know about managing innovation in manufacturing is applicable to services, what must be adapted, and what is distinct and different. Such is the goal of this book. This unique collection brings together the latest academic research and management practice on innovation in services, and identifies a range of successful organizational responses to current technological opportunities and market imperatives. The contributors include leading researchers, consultants and practitioners in the field, who provide rigorous yet practical insights into managing and organizing innovation in services. Two themes help to integrate the contributions in this book: . OCo That generic good practices exist in the management and organization of innovation in services, which the authors seek to identify, but that these must be adapted to different contexts, specifically the scale and complexity of the tasks, the degree of customization of the offerings, and the uncertainty of the environment. OCo That innovation in services is much more than the application of information technology (IT). In fact, the disappointing returns to IT investments in services have resulted in a widespread debate about the causes and potential solutions OCo the so-called OC productivity paradoxOCO in services. Instead here the authors adopt a broader notion of innovation, including technological, organizational and market change. The key is to match the configuration of organization and technology to the specific market environment. Sample Chapter(s). Introduction (35 KB). Chapter 1: Managing Service Innovation: Variations of Best Practice (490 KB). Contents: Conceptual and Analytical Frameworks for Service Innovation: Services and the Knowledge-Based Economy (I Miles); Service Innovation: Aiming to Win (T Clayton); Sector and National Studies of Innovation in Services: Innovation in Healthcare Delivery (D J Bower); Product Development in Financial Services: Picking the Right Leader for Success (E Chortatsiani); Applying Innovation Management Good Practice to Services: A Composite Framework of Product Development and Delivery Effectiveness in Services (F M Hull & J Tidd); Product Development in Service Enterprises: Case Studies of Good Practice (F M Hull); and other articles. Readership: Graduate students and researchers in management programs; managers."