Tuzovic, Sven, Wirtz, Jochen and Heracleous, Loizos Th. (2018) How do innovators stay innovative? A longitudinal case analysis. Journal of Services Marketing, 32 (1). pp. 34-45. doi:10.1108/JSM-02-2017-0052 ISSN 0887-6045.

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Abstract

Purpose – How can some companies be the innovation leader in their industry over prolonged periods of time, while others cannot? The purpose of this study is to understand a firm’s capability to be a successful serial innovator and to generate a constant stream of industry-leading innovations.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The paper uses a longitudinal case study approach to gain an understanding of what and how Singapore Airlines (SIA) sustained service innovation for over 30 years. The study uses triangulation, whereby the core data from in-depth interviews with senior and middle management, and frontline employees were complemented with academic research, case studies, annual reports, observations, and archival documents. 240 single-spaced pages of interview transcripts with over 130,000 words were analyzed and coded using MAXQDA for identifying repeated patterns of meaning.

Findings – We identified three key institutional foundations for service innovation: (1) innovation climate (i.e., leadership and service culture), (2) human capital (i.e., recruitment, training and development, and engagement and incentives), and (3) resource configurations (i.e., systems, structure, and processes). These foundations enabled the organization to build the following four service innovation-related dynamic capabilities: (1) embrace ambidexterity, (2) institutionalize learning and knowledge integration, (3) orchestrate collaboration, and (4) reinvent customer value. Interestingly, these institutional foundations and capabilities remained largely stable across 30 years; what changed were the contexts and specifics, not the foundations and capabilities.

Research Limitations and Implications – Data were collected only from one company. Due to the method of thematic analysis the generalizability of our findings needs further investigation.

Originality/ValueOriginality/Value – This study is the first to investigate the drivers of industry-leading sustained service innovation over a prolonged period of time. The proposed framework provides a fuller and more integrated picture of sustained service innovation than past cross-sectional studies.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Strategy & International Business Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Singapore Airlines‏, Airlines -- Effect of technological innovations on -- Singapore, Technological innovations, Creative ability in business, Social responsibility of business, Service industries -- Marketing, Organizational change
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Services Marketing
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Ltd
ISSN:	0887-6045
Official Date:	12 February 2018
Dates:	Date Event 12 February 2018 Available 28 November 2017 Accepted
Volume:	32
Number:	1
Page Range:	pp. 34-45
DOI:	10.1108/JSM-02-2017-0052
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit:	4 December 2017
Date of first compliant Open Access:	19 March 2018
Related URLs:	Publisher

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