Collaborative concept development in creating B-to-B service innovations

In this paper we introduce the idea of a re-organized concept development phase. We argue that companies should move from product-centric development to service-oriented development. The overall concept, including business model and processes, and intangible and tangible parts of the offerings, should be defined at the beginning of the development process, before the actual investment decision and any further development or implementation. According to our survey, most production companies do not have an organized service development process, personnel for service development activities, or particular development methods. We found these large, globally operating Finnish companies to be very product-oriented or technology-oriented, with a strong technology development culture. Nevertheless, all companies agreed that services are a rapidly growing, area and increasing effort should be invested in this area. We conclude that companies should recognise their strengths and weaknesses in service development culture and accordingly act more proactively and systemically in development