Skip to main content

Including Customer Representatives in the Development of the Service Innovation ‘Model’ for an Insurance Company

  • Chapter
Case Studies in Service Innovation

Abstract

This case study describes an innovation process in which customer representatives participated. The case company is a medium-sized Finnish insurance company which has developed several individual service innovations during recent years (e.g. an online application system and decisions concerning indemnities, and a specific mapping service concerning insurance needs). Nevertheless, the company has realised that its innovation activities are still product-oriented, focusing on the development of insurance products and IT systems. Our case study describes an action research project, where the authors together with the company pursued a new type of process model for service innovation which would support the systematic implementation of a strong customer perspective. Here, we concentrate on the description of customer interaction in this work. The interaction was organised as a series of development workshops in which representatives of customers participated.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abramovici M, Bancel-Charensol L (2004) How to take customers into consideration in service innovation projects. Serv Ind J 24(1):56–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bitner MJ, Ostrom AL, Morgan FN (2008) Service blueprinting: A practical technique for service innovation. Calif Manage Rev 50(3):66–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chesbrough HW (2004) Managing open innovation. Res-Technol Manag 47(1):23–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreno JL, Borgatta EF (1951) An experiment with sociodrama and sociometry in industry. Sociometry 14(1):71–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prahalad CK, Ramaswamy V (2004) Co-creation experiences: The next practice in value creation. J Interact Mark 18(3):5–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torrance EP (1975) Sociodrama as a creative problem-solving approach to studying the future. J Creat Behav 9(3):182–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

Further Reading

  • Alam I, Perry C (2002) A customer-oriented new service development process. J of Serv Mark 16(6):515–534

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burger T, Holopainen M, Meiren T (2009) ServLab: The laboratory system for the design, visualization and simulation of services, in Stauss, B.: QUIS 11—Moving forward with service quality: Proceedings of the QUIS 11—Services Conference. June 11–14, 2009, Wolfsburg, Germany. Ingolstadt: Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Ingolstadt School of Management, 2009, 33–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Holopainen M (2007) Perspectives in understanding weak signals. COST A22 Conference, July 9–11 2007, Athens

    Google Scholar 

  • Holopainen M (2010) Exploring service design in the context of architecture. Serv Ind J 30(4):597–608

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shostack GL (1982) How to design a service. Eur J Mark 16(1):49–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toivonen M (2004) Foresight in services: Possibilities and special challenges. Ser. Ind J 24(1):79–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toivonen M (2010) Different types of innovation processes in services and their organisational implications. In Gallouj F, Djellal F, Gallouj C (eds) The handbook of innovation and services, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp 221–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Wikström S (1995) The customer as co-producer. Eur J Mark 30(4):6–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeithaml VA, Bolton RN, Deighton J, Keiningham TL, Lemon KN, Petersen JA (2006) Forward looking focus: Can firms have adaptive foresight? J Serv Res 9(2):168–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Toivonen, M., Holopainen, M. (2012). Including Customer Representatives in the Development of the Service Innovation ‘Model’ for an Insurance Company. In: Macaulay, L., Miles, I., Wilby, J., Tan, Y., Zhao, L., Theodoulidis, B. (eds) Case Studies in Service Innovation. Service Science: Research and Innovations in the Service Economy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1972-3_19

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics