Managing Innovation Processes: The Case of Integrated Product-Service Systems

Abstract

Most research on the management of innovation processes has focused on either new product development or new service development, while the development of new integrated product-service systems has received limited attention. This paper addresses this literature gap by exploring qualitatively how new integrated product-service systems are developed in five firms. The findings demonstrated that there is not one specific process that is implemented and used in all new product-service system development initiatives. Instead the characteristics and the management of the new productservice system development processes were found to be contingent upon both the type of services (smart digital services vs. traditional services) and the business model (product-oriented services vs. result-oriented services). These findings provide considerable guidance to managers searching for ways to manage the processes of developing new product-service systems. Further research is needed to verify if the same contingencies are found in other types of organization