CENTRE FOR INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
Bridging The Gaps: Research within ISR
Prof. Andi Smart / Prof. John Bessant
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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The Centre for Innovation & Service Research (ISR)
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)

ISR established as a ‘peak’ within the Business School in 2011

2011 to date applications = £7.5m, awards = £2.35m

Research income from multiple external sources

20 plus researchers 6 lecturers (5 REF), 10 Research fellows, 7 PhDs, 2 admin staff

Network of external collaborators, UK and international
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Close ties to policy and practice, ‘mode 2’ approach

Service Science Forum which brings together senior managers from a range of public and
private organisations interested in the challenges a service orientation brings

Innovation Labs (current focus on Sustainability and innovation) and local Innovation Club.
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
2
The Centre for Innovation & Service Research (ISR)
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
Our mission is the
pursuit of theory to
inform practice
Our approach is
context-driven,
problem-focused, and
trans-disciplinary
We couple a strong
academic tradition
with empirical
research and
corporate education

ISR aims to bring academic rigour to the challenges of managing service organisations. Our
focus is on producing research outputs that are relevant to practice and extend theory

Three principles support our work:
–
Context-driven: our research projects are carried out in a context of real-world application. We build and
develop sustained research collaboration with the companies we engage with, and work hand-in-hand with
the management team and staff
–
Problem-focused: our engagements with businesses arise from practical problem-solving, and are not
governed by traditional academic disciplines. Problems are set and solved in the context of application,
that is, in the organisations involved
–
Trans-disciplinary: our work is grounded in three domains: service marketing and value, service operations
and process management, and innovation management.
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
Research Architecture & Themes
Our research is
focussed on
understanding,
designing, and
improving Service
Systems
Centre for Innovation &
Service Research
SERVICE
SYSTEMS
CUSTOMER &
VALUE
MANAGEMENT
INNOVATION
MANAGEMENT
Four key pillars of
academic enquiry.
SERVICE PROCESS
MANAGEMENT
(Activity Systems)
CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
A variety of contexts
for the exploration
and application of
theory
HEALTHCARE
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
SERVITISATION OF MANUFACTURING
THE DIGITAL ECONOMY
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Innovation management …..
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)

Spengler, spaghetti, SAPPHO, sustainability, strategy

The Spengler problem …..
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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Innovation management …..
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)

Spengler, spaghetti, SAPPHO, sustainability, strategy

The Spengler problem ….. …. creating value from knowledge

The spaghetti problem …..
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
How innovation happens?
Process
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
Success (?)
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
How it really happens ...
Innovation management …..
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)

The Spengler problem….

…. creating value from knowledge

The spaghetti problem …..

…. learning to manage knowledge flows

The SAPPHO problem …..
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
User innovations ….
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
User innovators ….
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
User innovators …
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
Tal Golesworthy- a user innovator
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
User communities
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
Innovation management …..
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)

The Spengler problem….

…. creating value from knowledge

The spaghetti problem …..

…. learning to manage knowledge flows

The SAPPHO problem …..

….. engaging with stakeholders

The sustainability problem ….
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
Sustainability-led innovation
Innovation management …..
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)

The Spengler problem….

…. creating value from knowledge

The spaghetti problem …..

…. learning to manage knowledge flows

The SAPPHO problem …..

….. engaging with stakeholders

The sustainability problem ….

…. the One Planet challenge

The strategy challenge ….
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
The strategy challenge ….
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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Innovation management …..
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)

The Spengler problem….

…. creating value from knowledge

The spaghetti problem …..

…. learning to manage knowledge flows

The SAPPHO problem …..

….. engaging with stakeholders

The sustainability problem ….

…. the One Planet challenge

The strategy challenge ….

…. dealing with discontinuity
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
Innovation management research
Building innovation
management capability
• Innovation Fitness
• TEMPUS
• BENEFIT
• CALMARE
• Innovation Labs and Club
• Graphic KTP
• EDF High Involvement
• Met Office PhD
• Selex Galileo
Sustainability-led innovation
• NBS review
• Sustainable Innovation Lab
• ABIS network and PhD
• Bottom of pyramid PhD
• Humanitarian Innovation Fund
Open collective innovation
• ‘Knowing earlier’ PhD
• Innovation networks PhD
• Intra-team conversation PhD
• User innovation in health PhD
• NEMINDE 2 bid
• Open healthcare innovation
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
Service Process Management
(Activity Systems)

Projects:
–
The development of a TASK-TYPE model to determine critical design
contingencies (Andi Smart): With Philipp Klauss (ESCEM, France), Saara
Braax (Aalto, Finland): CADMC (Cambridge), JOSM.
–
Self Service System Design for Efficiency (Steve Pearce)
What is the impact on service transaction efficiency of a movement into
customer surrogate interaction domain from direct interaction?
Collaborator: Devon County Libraries.
–
Design Challenges in End-to-End Business Process Management (Harry
Maddern) Collaborating with various organisations mainly Retail Banks (RBS).
Publication: Production Planning and Control.
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
Service Process Management
(Activity Systems)

Projects:
–
What are the process design characteristics for information-intensive Mass
Claim Processes? Collaborator: Rural Payments Agency
Misalignment Spiral
Data Discrepancy Matrix
A
B
I
A
B
I
A
B
I
…findings suggest different contingencies for design in these contexts
(Paper in preparation for IJOPM SI – Information-Centric Operations)
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
Service Process Management
(Activity Systems)
Research questions:
How can the A&E service be improved. In terms of
a) Reducing length of time patients spend in A&E
b) Increasing ‘value’ time patients have in A&E
c) Reducing the number of patients who attend A&E
Sian Joel-Edgar, Mike Williams
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
Service Process Management
(Activity Systems)

Projects:
–
An exploration of process improvement approaches of organisations (Fred
Ponsignon)
RQ1: What are the most and least successful principles of process improvement?
RQ2: What are the operational archetypes of process improvement?
–
Process improvement is determined through the application of two foundational principles combined with
one of four archetypes.
–
‘Remove non-value-adding tasks’ and ‘re-sequence tasks’ are foundational principles of process
improvement, whilst outsourcing needs to be approached with caution.
–
Distinctive improvement archetypes comprising unique configurations of process redesign principles are
articulated: employee-focused, cost-focused; workstream-focused and hybrid
–
In total, 62 practitioners took the questionnaire – 40 took it online; 22 were interviewed face-to-face
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
Customer Value

Projects:
–
Servitization: a customer perspective (Laura Smith)
How does co-capability effect re-purchase intention?
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
Customer Experience

Projects:
–
How do Organisations design the service encounter to maximise customer
experience? (Nick Low) Collaboration with Co-operative Bank
–
–
Case-based research
Designing for an Optimum Experience in Online Fashion Retail (Nimrita Singh)
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)
Customer Experience

Projects:
–
To determine what practices are used by financial services firms to design the customer experience (Fred
Ponsignon) with Phil Klauss ESCEM Paris
–
RQ1: What practices of experience design and management are used by FS organisations?
–
RQ2: what is the role of context in influencing the use of experience design and management practices?
–
13 case studies of FS organisations in UK, France and USA.
–
Case organisations include Co-op Bank, Lloyds, RBS, Aviva, Axa Wealth
–
Five consistently used practices are identified, including: Define the high-level customer journey lifecycle;
Identify and monitor moments of truth (MoT) and improve breakpoints; Engage customers through
education and guidance; Leverage transaction data to personalise the experience of individual customers;
Employ sensory design on the tangible and visible elements of the service
–
Provide useful insights into the role of the contextual conditions of FS (information-intensity, long-term
relationships, intangibility, contract complexity) in influencing the use of these practices, which are
markedly different from practices employed in more experiential settings.
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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Digital Economy
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)

NEMODE – New Economic Models for the Digital Economy

Hub of all things (HAT) project, £1.2m with Warwick, Cambridge,
Edinburgh, UWE, Nottingham
UK Government - £1.5m initiative
Create network of academics and practitioners for
the purpose of co-creating knowledge of new
economic models emerging from the Digital Economy
PI - [email protected]
Co-ordinator - [email protected]
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
Collaborators; Univ of Cambridge, Heriot Watt and Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG)
Sister network ISSIP (USA)
Projects recently submitted
INNOVATION AND SERVICE RESEARCH (ISR)

Smart P A, Brown A (Surrey), Liebenau J (LSE), New Business Models in the Mobile Payments
Ecosystem, New Economic Models in the Digital Economy #2 (£850k)

Mustafee N, A Game-Theoretic Economic Model for the Collaborative Consumption of ICT
Resources and its Rigorous Analysis through an Empiric Study on Volunteer Computing, New
Economic Models in the Digital Economy #2 (£1m)

Adams, Alexander, Bessant Incomplete products, user-led innovation and emergent business
models in the digitising broadcast industry , New Economic Models in the Digital Economy #2
(£800k)
ISR
…pursuing Theory to
inform Practice…
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