Marja Toivonen

Eveliina Saari

This book provides a timely overview of the impacts of digitalization from the perspective of everyday life, and argues that one central issue in digitalization is the development of new types of services that digitalization enables, but which are often overlooked due to the focus on new technologies and devices. The book summarizes the past 20 years of research into the relationship between information and communications technology (ICT) and service innovation, and reveals that the ongoing digitalization is a qualitatively different phenomenon and represents a true paradigm shift. The all-encompassing integration and distribution of data raises critical issues such as preserving human dignity and individual autonomy; moreover, interaction practices that foster broad participation, trust, learning, and a willingness to share knowledge are called for. Citizen empowerment and multi-actor co-creation have become central to using digitalization to support the development of wellbeing and sustainability. Further, the book shows how employees and professionals can and should be involved in designing their future work, and in evaluating it. Proactiveness and participation in innovation endeavours are ways to guarantee meaningful work in an age of socio-technical transition. The book employs a variety of theoretical approaches and perspectives from diverse disciplines to illustrate these needs. In addition to theoretical analyses, some specific application areas are examined, e.g. services in health and social care, and problems linked to robots in elderly care. Given its scope, the book is highly recommended to all readers seeking an overview of the current understanding of the human side of digitalization and searching for concrete cases from different countries to illustrate the topic.

Human-Centered Digitalization and Services

Jon Sundbo

This book demonstrates pioneering work on user-based service innovation using an analytical framework. This approach involves understanding the needs of users, the service firms collaborating with them, and recognising the fact that users are innovators and, as such, services develop whilst in use. As well as presenting case studies, the book discusses theoretically what user-based innovation means in the context of services. Three main fields are analysed: user-based innovation in knowledge-intensive business service, user-based innovation in public services, and models and methods for structuring user-based innovation. Incorporating both an academic and analytical approach, this insightful book will be a source of inspiration for researchers in innovation and services. Graduate and postgraduate students in business administration and innovation, as well as administrators in public administrations and executive managers in service firms will also find plenty of important information in this invaluable resource.

User-based Innovation in Services

This is the first book that summarizes the 20-year history of service innovation research and combines it with the future need to adopt a systems view in the field of service research. The book emphasizes that the most urgent issues of today’s economies – the development of welfare and sustainability – cannot be solved with innovations in individual service offerings only, and that innovations of service systems are increasingly needed. Various theoretical approaches and perspectives from different disciplines are included, providing a comprehensive view of the current understanding of the nature of service innovation. The book illustrates the achievements of two research traditions, one based on the general innovation theory and the other based on the service marketing theory. Service innovation is considered from the points of view of drivers, processes, practices, and outcomes. The interrelations between actors and systems are analyzed, and the nature of innovation as a new way to co-create value is highlighted. The book promotes the view that users are an important source of innovative ideas and that openness is an important success factor in innovation processes. In addition to the general nature and management of service innovation, some specific topics are included, exemplified by innovations in public services and in knowledge-intensive business services. This volume is highly recommended to readers who seek a state-of-the-art overview of the area of service innovation and its linkages to systems research.

Marja Toivonen

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