Characteristics of service innovations PDF

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Characteristics of service innovations...

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Characteristics of service innovations Most innovation management research has focused on the manufacturing sector and studies of service innovation are still rare. So the most effective ways to manage service innovation are still emerging. There are however five generic characteristics of services. 1. Intangibility Services are intangible (they cannot be perceived by touch), in contrast to manufactured goods. This can make it difficult to judge the quality of a service in advance. Quality may be judged by the more tangible aspects (the servicescape). 2. Customer contact All services rely on contact with the customers. Contacts have a strong influence on the customers’ perception. (E.g. the captain shaking hands with the first class passengers before disembarking to make them feel special) 3. Inhomogeneity The output of service providers varies because it depends on the employees delivering it and the individual consumer receiving it. So service products are heterogeneous (in the US they say inhomogeneous). (E.g. two doctors might give exactly the same treatment but one is more empathetic to the patient). Inhomogeneity can influence service quality positively or negatively and so it must be managed carefully.  Service scripting may sometimes be an option for front-office workers 4. Perishability The production and delivery mechanisms must ensure easy access for consumers. Services are perishable, they cannot be stored, and so location and timing of delivery are crucial. Front-office staff need to plan capacity issues and ensure that quality can be maintained as demand increases. 5. Multifaceted quality Expectations and perceptions need to be managed. Internal perceptions need to be matched to those of the customer and/or consumer. Managing service quality requires good cross-functional interaction between the front and back office.

Challenges in managing innovation in medical devices  

Innovation process is more varied and less formalized than for the drugs industry Specialist input from a range of disciplines is often needed

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The approval process for medical devices has grown more complicated and expensive (especially in USA) Fragmented nature of medical device industry makes co-operation harder and more costly Adoption is often a larger problem for companies than product development

Challenges in management of service innovation       

Customer involvement is essential (but not always easy to achieve) Discussing intangible service products can be hard Comparison between innovations is difficult (due to intangible character) IT can form a bottleneck for implementation Many different persons/ functions are involved in services innovation, which makes it complex to implement Staff (re) training is crucial Innovation strategy can be difficult to articulate because of intangible nature of services...