Notes from the First Service Innovation Workshop
Julay 11 (Tuesday) 2006
On Thursday, July 6 FRI held its first Service Innovation Workshop. The workshop's goal was to present the results of three months of research by FRI’s Service Innovation Team to outside experts, and to connect their comments and criticisms with the next stage of research. Approximately 50 people came to the workshop, including Professor Akio Kameoka (of the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Hokuriku) as well as researchers, businesspeople, Fujitsu representatives and outside experts. We hope to be able to hold this kind of formal workshop regularly every few months, and use the opportunity to absorb the criticisms and proposals of outside experts in order to continue to improve our research.
Thursday's workshop was divided into five presentations. The first presentation was given by Tadahiko Abe, Executive Director of FRI Economic Research Center. Mr. Abe described the general framework of service innovation and presented a hypothesis for evidence-based research. The second presentation was given by Senior Research Fellow Naoki Nagashima, who presented on "The Science of Leisure Services" and used a case study of Disney Resorts to discuss the interest and contents creation in the senior and elderly leisure sector. Third, Research Fellow Satoshi Hamaya discussed “CGM (Consumer Generated Media) as a platform for joint innovation, and described the potential for CGM to inspire and further develop innovation in the future. The fourth presentation was given by Research Fellow Tatsuya Kimura, who presented on "Innovation in Physical and Commercial Distribution". Mr. Kimura analyzed case studies to investigate how to achieve innovation in service products and service delivery, through systematizing ICT and other equipment in the former and systematizing organizational structures in the latter. The last presentation was given by Research Fellow Kazunori Minetaki and Senior Associate Michiko Yoshida, who spoke on "Service Innovation through the Continued Development of Information Technology". Mr. Minetaki and Ms. Yoshida presented on how blogs and SNS (Social Networking Sites) encourage communication between employees, and on achieving innovation by combining differing domains of knowledge.
We received many insightful and useful comments from the participants at the workshop, and so I would like to briefly describe them here. The comments can be divided into three main ideas.
1. What common ideas lie within the basic concept of service innovation?
1) "At first glance, the five presentations seem to have little in common with each other. It would be very helpful if each
researcher were conscious of the differences in each other’s research." (University Professor)
2) The use of metaknowledge and an appropriate methodology is necessary for synthesizing the diverse research connected with
service innovation. (Research Institute Director)
3) "It is useful to stay focused on the common theme of service innovation underlying research that may at first seem to
be unconnected. In particular, there is a strong possibility that service innovation could be connected with the development
of not only economics but also human sciences, accounting practices and other methods for establishing the value of services."
(Electronics Company Specialist)
4) "Service innovation is a very wide and diverse field of research, and thus it is necessary for researchers to have a
place where they can conduct comprehensive exchange." (Research Institute Director)
The first comment by a university professor raises the important point that awareness of differences between the varying subjects of research is a clue toward unlocking the common concept that underlies the idea of service innovation. All four comments underscore the need for creating a broad and thorough fundamental knowledge structure to support service research.
2. Cohesion in Information
1) "The concept of information cohesion is an interesting sub-theme shared by all five research projects."
2) "The analysis that 'organizational productivity can be increased by appropriately combining cohesive information with
organizational design' is an argument regarding information exchange within supplier-side organizations. It is also important
to consider the issue of information cohesion between information providers and receivers, however." (Company Specialist)
These comments point out important aspects of service innovation, but it is also important to note that, in the case of CGM,
information exchange on the receiver-side is not stereotyped and information exchange is relatively cohesive.
Even more in-depth cases of information absorption with a high degree of cohesion on the receiver side can be found in the
fields of education, healthcare services, consulting services, and others.
3. How can basic research such as that of service innovation be used in actual information business?
1) "There is still a long way to go before research results on service innovation, such as the five presented today, can actually used in business." (IT Company Employee)
This comment raises an important point. It is true that the development of fundamental concepts and knowledge structures that service innovation seeks to produce cannot necessarily be applied directly to everyday business. Rather, the value of service innovation research lies in reminding those involved with everyday management and business of the important concepts and theoretical systems that such basic research seeks to establish, and to thereby enhance the capability for businesspeople to evolve and adapt to the rapidly changing world.