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Innovation management in service firms: a research agenda

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Abstract

This article suggests an agenda for further research on innovation management in service firms. It investigates differences and similarities between issues identified by previous academic research and issues brought up by practitioners within the area of innovation management in service firms. The results show that there are some major differences; for instance, researchers stress a need for formalized processes for development work, while practitioners focus on facilitating innovation in everyday operations. The main conclusion is that in order to bridge the gap between research and practice we would encourage further research on innovation in service firms to (1) conduct micro studies of innovation work, (2) view innovation in the context of everyday operations and (3) focus on co-workers’ innovative potential.

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Notes

  1. Based on information provided by the European Commission and OECD.

  2. The excerpts have been translated from Swedish to English by the authors.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments as well as Andreas Werr, Mats Engwall and David Sköld for their contributions to the literature review and interview study presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Lindstedtsvägen 30, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

    Lucia Crevani

  2. KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Mariekällgatan 3, 151 81, Södertälje, Sweden

    Kristina Palm

  3. Stockholm School of Economics, Box 6502, 113 83, Stockholm, Sweden

    Annika Schilling

Authors
  1. Lucia Crevani
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  2. Kristina Palm
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  3. Annika Schilling
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Correspondence to Annika Schilling.

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Crevani, L., Palm, K. & Schilling, A. Innovation management in service firms: a research agenda. Serv Bus 5, 177–193 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-011-0109-7

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