Supporting Service Innovation through Knowledge Management: Practical Insights and Case Studies

The purpose of this study was to develop the yet limited empirical knowledge on the intensity of customer interaction and on specific customer roles in service innovation processes. An empirical study of twelve (12) business service innovation projects was conducted in cleaning and security, financial, and ICT services. We examined both ad hoc and formalised innovation processes. Overall in these service sectors, which offer support services to their customers, direct customer interaction in service development can be characterised as being limited and focused on specific, well-defined tasks. In the analysis, three highly important customer roles emerged: 1. Customers act as catalysts of service development processes. 2. Customer feedback is often decisive in nature, allowing for go/kill decisions and directing other key decisions. 3. Customers have a key role in internal marketing of the new service idea within the provider organisation. We outline a set of questions relating to knowledge management that managers can use to better benefit from customer involvement in new service development. Customers’ motivation and abilities as well as project organisation are in key focus in such an assessment, but one should also give thought to overall goals and how to measure the results in the end. We also try to give practical guidance on how to ensure that sufficient customer input is received before making critical go/kill decisions.