Abstract
The article is based on a three-year study of 70 business executives belonging to 20 large organizations operating in India to identify the kind of interventions used by agents (managers) to make service innovations successful. For the purpose of analysis, the subject organizations were classified into highly successful, successful, and unsuccessful organizations on the basis of their growth rate, and their practices were analyzed to identify the role of agents in those processes or related decisions. The article also compares the practices followed by organizations based in India with global organizations operating in India to understand the contextual issues of service innovations.
Highlights
According to Gallouj (2002), services have three distinct features: i) they are processes, ii) they are interactive, and iii) there can be extremely diverse
Because independence was given to the person whose idea of service innovation was implemented, the person heading the project directly held the responsibility for its success or failure, and the agents had no intervening role
The findings suggest that, in Indian organizations, there is a substantial intervention by agents across most of the themes as compared to their global counterparts operating in India
Summary
According to Gallouj (2002), services have three distinct features: i) they are processes, ii) they are interactive, and iii) there can be extremely diverse. The present article focuses on the second issue, where the daily demands of their work cause the agents (managers) to become risk averse and curb the real spirit and potential of innovation present in the organization, which often brings them into conflict with the principal (Eisenhardt, 1989) Due to this risk aversion, an agent might apply their discretion in matters related to inputs, processes, and outputs of innovation and will not involve or pay attention to the frontline coworkers (Edgett & Parkinson, 1994, Easingwood, 1986), which might give birth to a "routines" that curb the development of a radically innovative service. This article critically examines the role of executives as agents in successful service innovations
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