توسعه خدمات جدید از طریق لنز یادگیری سازمانی: شواهد به دست آمده از مطالعات موردی طولی

The paper examines the interest and limits of an organisational learning (OL) model for better understanding the new service development process. Based on the literature linking new service development and OL, the opportunity to use Crossan et al.'s [Acad. Manage. Rev. 24 (1999) 3.] 4I multilevel learning model in studying new service development process is discussed. In order to test the interest and limits of the model, a longitudinal and comparative case study methodology is described, using two cases of new service development process, the restructuring of the nonfood department of a supermarket and the launch of a new retail bank service package. The empirical findings support the overall interest of the 4I OL model, since several actions and loops of learning were observed, such as intuition, interpretation, integration and institutionalisation. These exploratory results encourage further research to study new service development through an OL lens and provide managers with insights for facilitating learning during the new service development process.

The growing service economy, accounting for more than 70% of the GNP and of the employment in most developed countries, places service activities in the first place of growth drivers and makes new service development a critical issue for firms' success. Yet, although the new product development (NPD) has very early attracted the attention of researchers, the development of new services remains a much less investigated research field. This seems even more surprising considering that from the early 1980s it has been underlined that services are fundamentally different from products Berry, 1980 and Shostack, 1984 and that their study requires specific frames of analysis—particularly systemic frameworks Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, 2001, Langeard and Eiglier, 1987 and De Bandt, 1994. The literature on new services is scarce, mainly marketing-driven and mostly focused on the financial sector. Empirical findings do not result in a theoretical framework that could support the understanding of the phenomenon Johne and Storey, 1998 and Johnson et al., 1999. Moreover, some authors suggested that empirical findings are more or less contradictory De Brentani, 1989, De Brentani, 1991, De Brentani, 1993 and Sundbo, 1997. Given the lack of consistency in empirical results, this article attempts to introduce an organisational learning (OL) approach in new service development research. It investigates the relevance of the 4I OL model (Crossan et al., 1999) in describing and understanding the new service development process. The article is organised as follows. The Background section reviews previous theory and empirical evidence on new service development and organisation learning and concludes with the research propositions. The Methodology section presents the longitudinal case study research design and the two projects studied. The Results section describes the new service development process and the learning activities that took place during it. The Discussion section elaborates on the usefulness and limits of the tested model and draws implications of these preliminary results. The paper concludes on key findings and their contribution to existing knowledge.

The growing service economy, accounting for more than 70% of the GNP and of the employment in most developed countries, places service activities in the first place of growth drivers and makes new service development a critical issue for firms' success. Yet, although the new product development (NPD) has very early attracted the attention of researchers, the development of new services remains a much less investigated research field. This seems even more surprising considering that from the early 1980s it has been underlined that services are fundamentally different from products Berry, 1980 and Shostack, 1984 and that their study requires specific frames of analysis—particularly systemic frameworks Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, 2001, Langeard and Eiglier, 1987 and De Bandt, 1994. The literature on new services is scarce, mainly marketing-driven and mostly focused on the financial sector. Empirical findings do not result in a theoretical framework that could support the understanding of the phenomenon Johne and Storey, 1998 and Johnson et al., 1999. Moreover, some authors suggested that empirical findings are more or less contradictory De Brentani, 1989, De Brentani, 1991, De Brentani, 1993 and Sundbo, 1997. Given the lack of consistency in empirical results, this article attempts to introduce an organisational learning (OL) approach in new service development research. It investigates the relevance of the 4I OL model (Crossan et al., 1999) in describing and understanding the new service development process. The article is organised as follows. The Background section reviews previous theory and empirical evidence on new service development and organisation learning and concludes with the research propositions. The Methodology section presents the longitudinal case study research design and the two projects studied. The Results section describes the new service development process and the learning activities that took place during it. The Discussion section elaborates on the usefulness and limits of the tested model and draws implications of these preliminary results. The paper concludes on key findings and their contribution to existing knowledge.