Customer Integration in Service Innovation: An Exploratory Study

Authors

  • Tim Straub Karlsruhe Service Research Institute (KSRI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Englerstr. 11, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
  • Marc Kohler Karlsruhe Service Research Institute (KSRI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Englerstr. 11, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
  • Peter Hottum Karlsruhe Service Research Institute (KSRI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Englerstr. 11, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
  • Volker Arrass Karlsruhe Service Research Institute (KSRI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Englerstr. 11, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
  • Dennis Welter Karlsruhe Service Research Institute (KSRI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Englerstr. 11, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242013000400003

Keywords:

customer integration, customer roles, open innovation, service innovation, service management.

Abstract

Prominent industry projects, as well as an extensive literature suggest the importance of customer integration for companies’ innovation success. This appears to be especially true for service firms, which inherently build on customer interaction. Despite this appreciation of the approach, there are comparably few empirical analyses of the positive and negative effects of customer integration. In this exploratory study, we build on established customer role concepts to study the status quo of customer integration in industry, as well as reservations against the roles and negative experiences from customer integration projects. The study reveals a gap between reservations and actual negative experiences in losing know-how, as well as a positive effect of experience in customer integration on perceived benefits for the company.

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Published

2013-09-29

How to Cite

Straub, T., Kohler, M., Hottum, P., Arrass, V., & Welter, D. (2013). Customer Integration in Service Innovation: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Technology Management & Innovation, 8(3), 25–33. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242013000400003

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Section

Research Articles