Combining strategies for high service productivity with successful service innovation

ABSTRACT

Service innovation and service productivity are key elements of a firm’s ability to gain competitive advantages. Although previous studies have advanced the understanding of each topic individually, few attempts have been made to bridge the gap between the two research streams. Endeavoring to explain how firms combine strategies for high service productivity with successful service innovation, we adopt a multiple-case research design. Results of a one-year field study in the financial services market show that firms are more likely to gain competitive advantages if they link multiple innovation configurations that fit with their productivity strategy. We identified 27 cases that facilitated productivity through cost emphasis, revenue emphasis, or a dual emphasis on both cost and revenue. Our data, which include 42 in-depth interviews as well as public documents, also suggest that two sets of service innovation configurations—new service development and service design—are linked together in relationships with service productivity.

服务创新和服务生产力是企业获得竞争优势的关键因素。尽管以前的研究已经推进了对每个主题的理解，但很少有人试图弥合这两个研究流之间的差距。为了解释企业如何将高服务生产率的战略与成功的服务创新相结合，我们采用了多案例研究设计。在金融服务市场进行的为期一年的实地研究结果表明，如果企业将符合其生产力战略的多种创新配置联系起来，那么它们就更有可能获得竞争优势。我们确定了27个案例，这些案例通过强调成本、强调收入或对成本和收入的双重强调来促进生产力。我们的数据，包括42次深入访谈以及公开文件，也表明两组服务创新配置–新服务开发和服务设计–在与服务生产力的关系中联系在一起。

KEYWORDS:

• Service innovation
• new service development
• service design
• service productivity
• service system
• multiple-case study

关键词:

• 服务创新、新服务开发、服务设计、服务生产力、服务系统、多案例研究

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).