SISB
We believe that service innovation is a key for understanding what happens in different sectors of the economy. Our research profile SISB (Service Innovation for Sustainable Business) gives us a platform for developing knowledge service innovation, and togheter with our partners we will work to better understand what service innovation is and how it influences different sectors, companies, employees.
Purpose
Describe and understand the DNA of service innovation, the mechanisms in the development and functioning of service innovation. Based on the DNA of service innovation we will develop theory, models and methods for analyzing, organizing and managing the development of service innovations.
The research profile´s more specific purposes are to develop theoretical and empirically grounded knowledge on:
- The DNA of service innovation and the service innovation process.
- The driving forces (stakeholders/actors, enablers and hinders) and resource prerequisites for the stimulation, realization and further development of service innovation.
- The role and importance of customer and employee integration in service innovation projects and processes.
- Different ways of capturing value including new business models, service level agreements and outcome based contracting.
The researchers will be working on understanding and mapping the components of service innovation, and how service innovation can make changes to the industry.
The research profile extended over 2011-2019 and was financed by The Knowledge Foundation, Karlstad University and a number of Swedish companies: Ikea, Ericsson, Volvo, Löfbergs, ICA, Valmet and Stamford.
Industrial partners
- Ericsson Global Services (2011-)
- Volvo (2011-)
- Ikea (2011-)
- Ica Maxi (2011-)
- Stamford (2011-)
- Löfbergs(2011-)
- Valmet (2014-)
- Tetra Pak (2011-2013)
Throughout the course of the research profile, the partners might change due to changes in interests on behalf of either the partners or the researchers. Each company in the research profile has specific areas of interests related to service innovation.
Research context
Through the lens of the DNA of individual service innovations we will unfold the generic resource constellations and value co-creation mechanisms that constitute successful service innovations.Three research themes will be focused; stimulation, realization, and value capture. These three themes cover important issues related to the creation of sustainable business based on service innovation. The three research themes will be studied in two empirical contexts: manufacturing companies and retail companies.
Stimulation
The first research theme concerns issues related to how to stimulate service innovations. This includes issues related to structure, culture and processes to stimulate innovations including idea generation and idea management that occur in a specific customer relationship and innovations that comes up in the service innovation process.
Realization
This theme concerns the realization phase of the service innovation and focus on the innovation content and the activities and processes as well as resources needed to realize the new resource configuration. We will focus on a better understanding of the specific challenges with developing and implementing services, in the literature normally referred to as New Service Development (NSD). Also within the scope for this theme is the service system change needed to realize service innovations in which products, services, technology and other resources are embedded in the new resource constellation forming the basis for the service innovation and related value proposition.
Value capture
In the third theme the focus is on how to capture the value throughout the service innovation process. We will contribute with studies of alternatives to current ways of designing and managing business models.