2009/01/01 by Florian Skiba, Cornelius Herstatt · 49 citations
Computer Science · Business, Management and Accounting · #Open Source Software Innovations #Service and Product Innovation #Innovation and Socioeconomic Development #Service design #Service (business) #Scope (computer science) #Business #Lead (geology) #Service innovation #Praxis #Tertiary sector of the economy #Service product management #Service provider #Marketing #Knowledge management #Computer science #Political science
paper · doi:10.1504/ijstm.2009.025393
published in International Journal of Services Technology and Management 12(3), 317 (Inderscience Publishers)
openalex publication_date 2009/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
Though theory and praxis both underline the importance of radical service innovations, science has kept lead user in the service industry outside the research scope so far. Based on first explorative findings on user innovations in services and recent research on service innovations, this paper answers the questions: 1) Can users lead trends and independently innovate in the service sector as well? 2) If so, do such service lead users show similar characteristics to lead users from other industries? 3) Can approaches for identification and integration from the consumer and investment goods be applied in the service sector too? By illustrating the impact lead users offer as source of radical service innovations, we hope to raise interest in this powerful concept, not yet applied in service industry systematically.