Teaching an Old Service New Tricks

Abstract

In the face of changing customer priorities, competitors, and technologies, how can organizations design their services to survive? What is a firm to do as its traditional services become outdated and ineffective? Contrary to the focus of most recent service design literature, creating new services is not the only option. We explore another viable competitive option—the redesigning of existing services. Service firms can be innovative with what exists just as they can be innovative with what does not.