Service Innovation Management

Abstract

Abstract Although service innovation management is emerging as a distinct area of research, empirical investigations in this field remain limited and fragmented when compared to “product” innovation research. Service innovation can be defined in terms of newness of the service offering attributes or newness in the service process. We show how the distinct characteristics of services have specific consequences for service innovation management. We explore the substantive research on the nature of the innovation process in services and focus on the appropriateness and application in practice of a formal or unstructured approach to the service innovation. We synthesize empirical work on front‐end service opportunity creation and analysis and back‐end implementation activities. Service development is viewed from two perspectives; customer‐facing front‐office activities and back‐office operations. Efforts to align both perspectives are emerging. We discuss the limitations of empirical research investigating success factors for service innovation. This body of literature is dispersed and small compared to “product” innovation success‐factor studies. This is attributed to difficulties in developing meaningful metrics and common units of analysis. We suggest that a supportive organizational environment, active role of employees, and interaction with external actors are important emerging antecedents of service innovation success. Our conclusion proposes that service innovation management research is moving beyond replication of product innovation advances by drawing on new paradigms to offer fresh perspectives.