Service Innovation Projects Research Articles

Designer's attitude: The forms of designer's interactions with customers in the design‐led innovation process

This study explores the designer's attitude, illustrating the forms of the designer's interactions with customers in the design‐led innovation. While the innovator's dilemma has become a crucial factor within cross‐functional teams, a similarly challenging issue arises when attempting to integrate customers into design‐led innovation. A proposed model based on Bourdieu's theory of practice was developed to address this issue. This model was employed to conduct qualitative interviews with 35 designers, allowing for the collection of 59 narratives pertaining to systems and service innovation projects. By the analysis of the collected data, using a grounded theory approach, as a result, seven designer's attitudes are elucidated. Based on this, implications and conclusions are discussed.

The impact of value co-creation orientation on radical service innovation: Exploring a serial mediation mechanism

By integrating the dynamic capability perspective and service-dominant logic (SDL), this study empirically investigates the distinct roles of internal and external knowledge integration capabilities in the relationship between value co-creation orientation and radical service innovation. Based on survey data from a sample of 200 service innovation projects from IT and Internet-related industries in China, this study uses structural equation modeling (SEM) and a bootstrapping approach to test the hypothesized relationships in the conceptual model. The results show that external knowledge integration capability mediates the relationship between value co-creation orientation and radical service innovation. In addition, internal and external knowledge integration capability jointly play a serial mediating role between value co-creation orientation and radical service innovation. These findings contribute to the growing literature on value co-creation in radical service innovation, and offer service managers meaningful implications that reveal how to convert multiple sources of knowledge resources into superior radical service innovation.

Scale development for the practices involved in creating value propositions in the exhibition industry: Service-dominant logic with a mixed-methods approach

Building on a mixed-method approach, this study examines the practices engaged in creating value propositions in the exhibition industry from the perspective of service-dominant (S-D) logic, which regards the offering of value propositions as service innovation and an essential prerequisite for value cocreation. Consequently, a five-factor structure with 40 measures underlying the practices of offering value propositions is developed and validated. The extant tourism literature on the meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE) industry mainly examines value cocreation issues while overlooking the concept of value propositions. This study contributes to the S-D logic literature by extending the theoretical understanding from value cocreation to value proposition. The findings of this study present important dimensions and attributes that are involved in creating value propositions for service innovation. Exhibition service providers can use these findings as a blueprint for service innovation project management and as a checklist for assessing their innovation competency.

Approaches to co-creating successful public service innovations with citizens: A comparison of different governance traditions

IMPACT This article provides empirically-based insights about the effect of co-creation and citizen involvement on the outcomes of public service innovation in different countries, which can be translated into recipes for successful co-creation. The key finding is that differences in approaches to citizen involvement in successful public service innovation depend on the context of administrative tradition and culture of governance. Therefore, policy-makers and public innovation practitioners need to be aware of the administrative tradition and culture of governance in their country so that recipes for citizen involvement in public service innovation projects can be successfully applied.

Leadership's long arm: The positive influence of digital leadership on managing technology-driven change over a strengthened service innovation capacity.

In this qualitative study, we examine digital leadership (DL) capabilities and their positive influence on the management of technology-driven change by leveraging service innovations. The context of digital transformation (DT) has triggered a new leadership paradigm, among others referred to as digital leadership (DL). However, despite its practical relevance, leadership research has yet paid little attention to conceptualise DL as an approach to digitally transform organisations. Drawing on mid- and top-level mangers' experiences with service innovation projects, and based on Grounded Theory, we develop a taxonomy of DL-related capabilities and a conceptual framework which exemplifies their influences on dynamic service innovation capabilities (DSICs). DSICs build on the dynamic capabilities view (DCV) and represent the "organisational muscle" to repeatedly deliver service innovations indicating an effective management of technology-driven change. Taxonomy results show that aggregated dimensions in terms of a digital leader's personal, social, and organisational capital serve as underpinnings (DL-related capabilities) to drive strategic change in DT contexts. The conceptual framework further reveals that especially the personal and organisational capital of a digital leader owns several strong and moderate influences on DSICs which demonstrates DL's "long arm" on the management of technology-driven change. Our findings contribute to leadership research by advancing the conceptualisation of DL and by adding a novel micro-foundational perspective towards the DCV discourse. As organisations struggle to realise the full benefits of DT initiatives, our results also provide a valuable contribution for practitioners by supporting them to strategically prepare for the human-related challenges of DT.

Trust-based service innovation of municipal home care: a longitudinal mixed methods study

BackgroundIn Scandinavia, various public reforms are initiated to enhance trust in the healthcare services and the public sector in general. This study explores experiences from a two-step service innovation project in municipal home care in Norway, coined as the Trust Model (TM), aiming at developing an alternative to the purchaser-provider split (PPS) and enhancing employee motivation, user satisfaction, and citizen trust. The PPS has been the prevalent model in Norway since the 1990s. There is little empirical research on trust-based alternatives to the PPS in healthcare. The overall objectives of this study were to explore facilitators and barriers to trust-based service innovation of municipal homecare and to develop a framework for how to support the implementation of the TM.MethodsThe TM elements were developed through a comprehensive participatory process, resulting in the decision to organize the home care service in small, self-managed and multidisciplinary teams, and trusting the teams with full responsibility for care decisions and delivery within a limited area. Through a longitudinal mixed methods case study design a) patients’ expressed values and b) factors facilitating or preventing the service innovation process were explored through two iterations. The first included three city districts, three teams and 80 patients. The second included four districts, eight teams and 160 patients.ResultsThe patient survey showed patients valued and trusted the service. The team member survey showed increased motivation for work aligned with TM principles. Both quantitative and qualitative methods revealed a series of facilitators and barriers to the innovation process on different organizational levels (teams, team leaders, system). The key message arising from the two iterations is to keep patients’ values in the centre and recognize the multilevelled organizational complexity of successful trust-based innovation in homecare. Synthesizing the results, a framework for how to support trust-based service innovation was constructed.ConclusionsTrust-based innovation of municipal homecare is feasible. The proposed framework may serve as a tool when planning trust-based innovation, and as a checklist for implementation and improvement strategies. Further research is needed to explore the validity of the framework and its replicability in other areas of healthcare.

Developing a classification scheme of service innovation: Synthesizing degree and type of change in service innovation

Innovation research has resulted in various methods to classify service innovations, which primarily feature either the degree of change or type of change. This paper develops a novel classification scheme, based on a four-dimensional view of innovativeness. The classification scheme simultaneously concerns both the degree and type of change in service innovations. A multiple-case study is conducted in the empirical settings of theme parks and airlines, with 11 service innovation projects situated in Walt Disney World, Singapore Airlines, or China Eastern Airlines. Following the proposed scheme, the 11 cases are analyzed and classified into four dimensions: environment-, technology-, market-, and organization-dominant service innovations. The scheme offers academics and practitioners an integral understanding through four dimensions that build on each other.

Nurse-led projects for people experiencing homelessness and other inclusion health groups: a realist evaluation.

Nursing service development or innovation projects, even small-scale ones, can be difficult to deliver and evaluate, due to a lack of resources and support. Results can also be difficult to disseminate, limiting transfer of learning. This paper presents findings from a realist evaluation of 10 small projects supported by the Queen's Nursing Institute Homeless and Inclusion Health Programme to deliver innovation in health care for people experiencing homelessness and other marginalised groups. These nurse-led projects were funded by the Queen's Nursing Institute and the Oak Foundation, and were largely successful in achieving outcomes to support the improved health of people experiencing homelessness and other marginalised groups. This realist evaluation explores the factors that contributed to the delivery of positive outcomes. All were impacted by the context and the response (mechanisms) of people experiencing homelessness and staff within these settings. It is hoped that the lessons learned will enable better support for nurse innovation projects in the future.

Value Co-Creation in Engineering Service Innovation: Resources and Capabilities Perspectives

Purpose: This research focuses on firm resources and capabilities used for value co-creation in service innovation. Specifically, I investigated how service innovation is created in an in-ternational engineering company. The aim of this article is to reveal what resources and capa-bilities are employed by a service provider for value co-creation in the innovation project of engineering service and how they vary in particular stages of this project. Methodology: The research is based on qualitative methodology by a multi-case study strate-gy. Focus group discussion with senior managers and semi-structured interviews with project managers of the studied international engineering company were used as concrete data gather-ing methods. Data analysis was conducted using the content analysis method. Findings: The research revealed eight value co-creation activities accomplished by the engi-neering company and client during the engineering service innovation project. The activities are as follows: co-identification of the client’s problem, co-evaluation of ideas, co-defining of client’s requirements, co-analysis of environment, co-design, co-testing, and co-adoption, co-production, and co-activities after the launch. These activities are diffused in different project stages and demand a range of resources: expert knowledge, diagnostic, communication skills, trust, experience, technological equipment, human resources. Moreover, they require diverse capabilities: relational, innovative, analytical, negotiation, knowledge absorptive, planning, organizational flexibility, and cross-cultural. The intensity and variety of using the mentioned resources and capabilities differ relying on the value co-creation activity. Expert knowledge, communication skills as resources, and relational and innovative capabilities were empha-sized by the researchers most often. We hope these findings will represent a step toward a more coherent resource-based view (RBV) and service innovation theories. Implications: The study involved only one Lithuanian engineering company, so the research context may influence the findings. Another limitation is related to the small number of cases and research participants. Originality: Unlike previous studies that revealed the importance of single resources and ca-pabilities for service innovation, this study determined the range of resources and capabilities employed in different activities of engineering service innovation project stages, especially in the value co-creation activities performed by the engineering company and clients. Moreover, research also identified how resources and capabilities vary at different stages of these pro-jects.

Implementing an emergency department pharmacy service and its effect on medication safety.

This service innovation project examined the effect an Emergency Department (ED) pharmacy service had on medication-related safety markers. A pre-test/post-test design captured medication-related safety markers on admission data at ward level after patients had been seen in the ED. The markers were, medication omitted, incorrect medicines prescribed and the number of incorrect doses or frequency of doses. All three safety markers saw reductions. Mean (SD) medications omitted were reduced from 2.19 (±3.01) to 0.48 (±1.3), incorrect medication from 0.35 (±1.11) to 0.08 (±0.36) and the number of incorrect doses or frequency of doses from 0.38 (±0.69) to 0.13 (±0.38) per patient. All differences were statistically significant (P = 0.00). The service reduced medication error and the findings allowed a permanent pharmacy service to be introduced.

HEPCARE EUROPE- A case study of a service innovation project aiming at improving the elimination of HCV in vulnerable populations in four European cities

ObjectivesHepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a significant cause of chronic liver disease. Among at-risk populations, access to diagnosis and treatment is challenging. We describe an integrated model of care, Hepcare Europe, developed to address this challenge. MethodsUsing a case-study approach, we describe the cascade of care outcomes at all sites. Cost analyses estimated the cost per person screened and linked to care. ResultsA total of 2608 participants were recruited across 218 clinical sites. HCV antibody test results were obtained for 2568(98•5%); 1074(41•8%) were antibody-positive, 687(60•5%) tested positive for HCV-RNA, 650(60•5%) were linked to care, and 319(43•5%) started treatment. 196(61•4%) of treatment initiates achieved a Sustained Viral Response (SVR) at dataset closure, 108(33•9%) were still on treatment, eight (2•7%) defaulted from treatment, and seven (2•6%) had virologic failure or died. The cost per person screened varied from €194 to €635, while the cost per person linked to care varied from €364 to €2035. ConclusionsHepcare enhanced access to HCV treatment and cure, and costs were affordable in all settings, offering a framework for scale-up and reproducibility.

HepCare Ireland-a service innovation project.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a major cause of morbidity and death worldwide, with prevalence highest among people who inject drugs (PWID), homeless populations and prisoners. The World Health Organization has published targets to be achieved by 2030 as part of its global health sector strategy to eliminate viral hepatitis. Recent innovations in testing and treatment of HCV mean such goals are achievable with effective infrastructure, political will and funding. 'HepCare Europe' was a 3-year, EU-funded project involving four member states. It sought to develop, implement and evaluate interventions to improve HCV outcomes through multiple-level interventions, running between 2016 and 2019. This paper aims to summarize the methods and present the aggregate cascade of care figures for the Irish components of HepCare. 'HepCare Ireland' contained five integrated work packages: HepCheck, HepLink, HepFriend, HepEd and HepCost. Interventions included intensified screening, community-based assessment, linkage to specialist care, peer training and support, multidisciplinary educational resources and cost-effectiveness analysis. A total of 812 participants were recruited across the three clinical work packages in Ireland. Two hundred and fifty-seven (31.7%) of the tested participants had an HCV antibody-positive result, with 162 (63.0%) testing positive for HCV RNA. At the time of writing (6th of November 2019), 57 (54.8%) of participants put on treatment had achieved SVR12, with 44 (42.3%) still undergoing treatment. In HepCheck, HepLink. HepEd and HepFriend, we demonstrate a series of interventions to improve Irish HCV outcomes. Our findings highlight the benefits of multilevel interventions in HCV care.

Paediatric respiratory isolation: A challenge for a secondary care hospital! A service innovation project.

The aim of this project was to broaden the secondary care hospital's scope of services and provide safe, effective and quality care for the patient presenting with measles. Six Sigma DMAIC [define measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC)] methodology was used in this quality improvement project. The quality project was started in October 2015 using a Gantt chart quality tool. The paediatric team with the support of administration of the hospital has established isolation rooms and devised a policy for the care and management of patient with airborne infection to avoid cross transmission. During six months period after establishment of isolation room there were sixty two suspected or confirmed measles cases who were admitted in our hospital, out of them only 4(6.4%) of patients were referred because of their sick condition and need of ventilator support. Further, the percentage of patient's satisfaction level also improved from 60 to 80%. After this clinical service innovation, there was significant reduction in referrals of measles patients to another hospital and consequently there was an increase in the patient's satisfaction.

HepCare Europe—A service innovation project. HepCheck: Characteristics of the patient population with active infection as defined by HCV RNA

BackgroundHepatitis C virus (HCV) is a main cause of chronic liver disease worldwide and is consistently under-diagnosed. Community-based screening initiatives, such as HepCheck, have been identified as important components of HCV care. HepCheck focuses on screening and identifying HCV RNA-positive cases in high-risk populations and linking them to care as part of a larger European project to improve HCV care (HepCare). MethodsHCV testing with a self-administered questionnaire was offered to 2822 individuals. ResultsThere were 2079 patients screened. Overall, 397 (19%) of the total screened cohort were identified as having active HCV infections as measured by HCV RNA PCR. The patients were mostly male (84%), white (88%), and had a history of injecting drug use (IDU) (86%), homelessness (58%), and tattooing (42%). There were 136 new cases (7% of the total sample and 34% of identified active infections). Romania had the highest proportion of newly identified cases with 87%, then Ireland with 60%, and Spain with 43%; the UK had the lowest proportion of new cases at 10%. ConclusionsFor those lost to follow-up, a major strategy is re-engagement. For those newly diagnosed, the ‘seek and treat’ approach is a key strategy. Thus, different priorities are defined for different countries.

HepCare Europe: a service innovation project. HepCheck: enhancing HCV identification and linkage to care for vulnerable populations through intensified outreach screening. A prospective multisite feasibility study.

ObjectivesHepatitis C is one of the main causes of chronic liver diseases worldwide. One of the major barriers to effecting EU- and WHO-mandated HCV elimination by 2030 is underdiagnosis. Community-based screening strategies have been identified as important components of HCV models of care. HepCheck Europe is a large-scale intensified screening initiative aimed at enhancing identification of HCV infection among vulnerable populations and linkage to care.MethodsResearch teams across four European countries were engaged in the study and rolled out screening to high-risk populations in community addiction, homeless and prison services. Screening was offered to 2822 individuals and included a self-administered questionnaire, HCV antibody and RNA testing, liver fibrosis assessment and referral to specialist services.ResultsThere was a 74% (n=2079) uptake of screening. The majority (85.8%, n=1783) were male. In total 44.6% (n=927) of the sample reported ever injecting drugs, 38.4% (n=799) reported ever being homeless and 27.9% (n=581) were prisoners. In total 397 (19%) active HCV infections were identified and 136 (7% of total sample and 34% of identified active infections) were new cases. Of those identified with active HCV infection, 80% were linked to care, which included liver fibrosis assessment and referral to specialist services.ConclusionsHepCheck’s screening and linkage to care is a clear strategy for reaching high-risk populations, including those at highest risk of transmission who are not accessing any type of care in the community. Elimination of HCV in the EU will only be achieved by such innovative, patient-centred approaches.

Collaboration Challenges in Digital Service Innovation Projects

Digitalization is frequently seen as an important source of service innovation, enabling new solutions where products and services are bundled into offerings. As the realization of such offerings frequently requires the inclusion of new technological components and implies changes to activities across the value chain, they often require collaboration with other companies. This article explores what challenges arise when different organizations collaborate in service innovation enabled by digitalization. This study investigates a joint project between three companies aiming to innovate, build, and verify a proof-of-concept for an automated return process at a European rental company in the construction industry. An explorative case study approach was selected, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews with key managers in the collaborating companies as well as through meetings and workshops during the innovation project. The empirical observations revealed four main challenges: (1) the formulation of shared and complementary innovation objectives, (2) the joint design of a new business model addressing both value creation and value appropriation, (3) the management of the collaborative project across organizational boundaries, and (4) the fruitful combining of multiple agile organizing approaches.

Closing the Gap in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth Suicide: A Social–Emotional Wellbeing Service Innovation Project

ObjectiveThe suicide rate for Queensland's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people is over four times that of their non‐Indigenous counterparts, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (under 15) dying by suicide at 12 times the non‐Indigenous rate. There is a need for interventions that are culturally validated and community‐endorsed. The aim of this article is to describe the design and implementation of a group‐based intervention, as well to report the results of the various qualitative and quantitative measures.MethodSixty‐one Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons aged 11–21 years completed a social–emotional wellbeing (SEWB) program at headspace Inala. Data were available through to 2‐month follow‐up for 49 participants. The program was designed and delivered in collaboration with the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.ResultsThere was a statistically significant decrease in suicidal ideation experienced by the participants after completing the program. Qualitative measures indicated that participants experienced improved understanding of holistic health and an increased number of coping skills.ConclusionsNot only was this the first evaluated intervention in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth to ever report a decrease in individual suicidality, the program was carefully designed and implemented in consultation with community in a culturally sensitive manner and thus provides an invaluable framework for future SEWB work.

Employee involvement in ideation and healthcare service innovation quality

ABSTRACTThis study hypothesizes and empirically tests the influence of involvement of (1) frontline employees and (2) top managers in ideation process on healthcare service innovation quality. Based on data from 168 service innovation projects in Dutch healthcare organizations, the empirical results indicate that frontline employee involvement and top management involvement in, respectively, idea generation and idea application both improve the quality of healthcare service innovation. We find that the positive effect of frontline employee involvement is stronger under the condition of higher service innovativeness. In the direct relationship of top management involvement and healthcare service innovation quality, our data do not show such a moderating effect. The key and general managerial implication of the findings is that healthcare organizations are inspired to involve frontline employees in the idea generation processes and involve top managers in the idea application processes of service innovation projects, in order to improve innovation quality.

Service innovation quality in healthcare: service innovativeness and organisational renewal as driving forces

Drawing on an integration of service-dominant (S-D) logic and the dynamic capabilities approach, this study focuses on the relatively under-researched issue of service innovation quality in healthcare services. We propose a conceptual framework for the relationships between user-induced and organisation-based renewal, and service innovation quality in the healthcare sector. By putting service innovativeness and organisational renewal at the input side of the healthcare organisations’ value creation process, and treating service innovation quality as an output, this study hypothesises direct relationships between these two ends. We conducted an empirical study in the Dutch healthcare sector. Based on data from 168 service innovation projects in Dutch healthcare organisations, the empirical study verifies these hypothesised relationships. The results reveal that both service innovativeness and organisational renewal are significant antecedents of quality improvement of the healthcare service innovations in these projects. This study provides theoretical and managerial implications for improving the quality of healthcare service innovations. The key managerial insight is that healthcare organisations are implicated to pay more attention to continuous renewal of value propositions to their users/patients, as well as to continuous renewal of their organisations’ functioning.

The Role of User Involvement in the Framing Stage of Service Innovation Projects

As a consequence of the growing importance of services in contemporary economies, and the shift to a service-dominant logic in marketing, new service development (NSD) is unarguably important for a large majority of firms. However, developing new services remains a difficult task and the majority of NSD projects eventually fail. Therefore an urgent need exists to further improve the NSD process. In this article, we focus on improving the NSD process by better understanding the role of user involvement in the innovation framing stage. In this article, our aim is to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework investigating user involvement in the framing stage of service innovation projects by synthetizing key literature. Based on the literature, we observe that (1) the intensity of user involvement in innovation framing is positively correlated with the perceived technological uncertainty; (2) collaboration between user and firm in innovation framing is more intensive in case of continuous involvement than in discrete involvement; (3) collaboration between user and firm in innovation framing is stronger in business to business setting than in business to user setting; (4) user involvement appears to positively affect the degree of acceptance of the proposal, the degree of implementation of the associated NSD project and innovation speed, and finally (5) the degree of user involvement has an inverted-U shaped relationship with the effectiveness of innovation framing.