Overcoming Challenges to Service Innovation Process Implementation in an SME

This case study research reports on a small and medium-sized (SME) business-to-business
(B2B) services firm implementing a novel new service development (NSD) process. It provides
accounts of what occurred in practice in terms of the challenges to NSD process implementation and
how the firm overcame these challenges. It also considers the implications for NSD in this and
other firms’ innovation practices. This longitudinal case study (18 months) was conducted “inside”
the case organization. It covered the entire innovation process from the initiation to the launch
of a new service. The primary method may be viewed as participant observation. The research
involved all those participating in the innovation system in the firm, including decision-makers,
middle managers and employees at lower hierarchical levels and the firm’s external networks.
Implications for researchers and managers focusing
on structured innovation models for the services sector are also presented.