How Small Companies Generate Ideas for New Services
Patrik Gottfridsson

Abstract
Although conventional models of successful service development suggest that the generation of ideas for new services should be made in a formal and structured way, it is unclear whether most service development really is conducted in this way, and whether these formal models might merely represent theoretical structures that have been retrospectively imposed on the actual process. The present study therefore presents the findings from in-depth case studies of service development in eleven small Swedish companies. The study concludes that new ideas in such firms rarely emerge from a formal systematic process. The most important sources of inspiration for such new ideas are outside the company. It is therefore important that individuals involved in the generation of ideas maintain an open mind to the possibility of receiving inspiration from unexpected sources, including from people whose skills and knowledge are in other fields of business activity.

Full Text: PDF