 |
| Current Projects |
| - Service Innovation |
| - Open Innovation |
| - Network Evolution |
| - Innovation Policy |
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| Completed Projects |
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| Associated Research Projects |
Service Innovation and Innovative Performance at the Sector Level
| Project Leader: | Professor Bruce Tether |
| Researchers: | Dr Andrea Mina, Dr Cher Li, Dr Elif Bascavusoglu-Moreau, Professor Alan Hughes, Professor Jonathan Haskel, Professor Stan Metcalfe, Dr Ken Coutts, Dr Bob Rowthorn, Dr Bill Martin |
| Project Period: | October 2009 - October 2012 |
To see an overview of this project and its objectives please click here.
Project Progress [April 2012]
Academic Achievements: The team has continued to build links with practitioners and has analysed the size, structure and dynamics of both the engineering consulting industry and the architecture industry for New Civil Engineer and The Architects Journal. These collaborations offer unique data on professional services which will feed into new activities during the final phase of the project.
Professor Bruce Tether is consulting with Samsung Design Europe on how service design and innovation can improve competitiveness, which may lead to further projects.
Several academic papers are currently under review in leading innovation and management journals, and will be published on this site in due course. Topics include the diversification of design consultants, the effect of R&D on product and service innovations, and the commercial performance of knowledge intensive businesses.
Policy Engagement: In December 2011, the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) invited Professor Tether to Japan to present the UK perspective on the emergence and significance of service design. The team also undertook a project for the UKIPO on company performance in relation to registered designs. A report from this study was published by the IPO in September 2011 and accompanied by a workshop held in collaboration with the Design Council.
Dissemination: Various dissemination events were organised including Managing Successful Business Model Innovation in Manufacturing held at the University of Manchester and Imperial College London. These events, attracting around 80 attendees, were co-organised with AIM as part of the ESRC Social Science week and focused on the challenges associated with manufacturing firms moving into service provision. In addition the services project ran a session at the UK~IRC Innovation Summit on using innovation to grow a business which attracted 100 industrial leaders, policy-makers and academics. The conference was held at IBM Hursley and the session on servitisation included presentations from Xerox Global Services and Vestas wind turbines, alongside research from this project.
Professor Tether and Dr Elif Bascavusoglu-Moreau assisted the UK~IRC team in hosting the DRUID Academy Winter Conference for PhD students in January 2012, acting as discussants and chairing sessions.
Going Forward: Now entering the final phase of the project we will conduct a survey of several leading UK service industries, focusing on professional service firms, of KIBs and the UK economy interacting with this aspect of the service sector. We will also extend our analysis of the relationship between services and manufacturing and how servicetisation may change the nature of manufacturing in the UK. Finally we will continue the background analysis of macro constraints and the implications for rebalancing the economy
Events Associated with the project
- DRUID Academy Winter Conference 2012, Moeller Centre, Cambridge, 19-21 January 2012
- UK~IRC Innovation Summit: Growing Through Innovation, IBM Hursley, 25 November 2011
- Managing Successful Business Model Innovation, Imperial College London, 3 November 2011
- Professional Services: Innovations and Practices workshop, Imperial College London, 10-11 March, 2011. See the post workshop summary report produced.
- Early Career Researcher Workshop: New Frontiers in Innovation, Cambridge, 13-14 September 2010.