Innovation in services: a review of the debate and a research agenda

The paper reviews the debate on innovation in services which has flourished over the last 20 years and suggests a research agenda for the services innovation literature. We discuss whether, and the extent to which, the ill-definition and mis-measurement of service output have influenced the conceptualization and analysis of innovation in services. We propose a reclassification of the literature according to whether it has been mainly assimilated or differentiated with respect to the traditional conceptualization of innovation in the manufacturing sector. We also review the integrative (or synthesizing) contributions, and suggest a taxonomy for the modes of innovation in services, based on the Lancasterian characteristics-based approach to product definition. We conclude with a summary of the key arguments and a proposed agenda for the evolutionary theory to integrate the conceptualization of innovation in services.