A Value Development Framework For Service Innovation

Abstract

It is an undeniable fact nowadays that services have become a vital catalyst for economic growth worldwide. Innovation in services is regarded as being a key pillar in order to sustain the growth momentum of the service sector. In consequence, the study of service innovation has become a growing topic of interest for Service Science researchers and practitioners. A major problem identified through a literature review concerns the lack of a value development framework for service innovation that puts emphasis on the development of new or improved customer benefits or value proposed to customers. This thesis purpose is the development and implementation of a value development framework to validate or refute the hypothesis that service innovation can be achieved through such a value development framework that meets the requirements for the creation of new or improved customer value during the development of a service and, thus, close the gaps identified in service innovation research. Based on the findings of the experiment carried out to evaluate the service innovation capabilities of the value development framework, it can be reasonably concluded that the value development framework achieves service innovation by contributing to the creation of new or improved customer value during the development of a service. Moreover, all the service innovation requirements and secondary requirements have been met as compared to all the other service innovation approaches under review. Therefore, the stated hypothesis of this thesis has been validated and the value development framework has closed the current gaps in service innovation research.