Title: Users as sources for radical service innovations: opportunities from collaboration with service lead users

Authors: Florian Skiba, Cornelius Herstatt

Addresses: Institute of Technology and Innovation Management, Hamburg University of Technology, Schwarzenbergstr, 95, D-21073 Hamburg, Germany. ' Institute of Technology and Innovation Management, Hamburg University of Technology, Schwarzenbergstr, 95, D-21073 Hamburg, Germany

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: service lead users; service innovations; radical innovation; services; user integration; collaboration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTM.2009.025393

International Journal of Services Technology and Management, 2009 Vol.12 No.3, pp.317 - 337

Published online: 21 May 2009 *

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