Innovation in services: a review of the debate and a research agenda

International audienceThis paper is devoted to innovation in services. It intends to provide a review of the debate and a research agenda. This paper identifies whether, and the extent to which, the ill-definition and mis-measurement of service output have influenced the conceptualization and analysis of innovation in services. We propose a reclassification of the literature on innovation in services according to whether it has been mainly assimilated or differentiated with respect to the more traditional consideration of innovation in the manufacturing sector. We also review the integrative (or synthesizing) contributions, and suggest a taxonomy for the modes of innovation in services, based on the Lancasterian characteristics-based approach to product definition. We conclude with a summary of the key arguments and a proposed agenda for evolutionary theory to integrate the conceptualization of innovation in services