Users as Service Innovators: Evidence Across Healthcare and Financial Services

Oliveira, P. and H. Canhão (2014), “Users as Service Innovators: Evidence from Banking to Healthcare,” in K. Lakhani and D Harhoff (eds.), Revolutionizing Innovation, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

32 Pages Posted: 14 Oct 2014

See all articles by Pedro Oliveira

Pedro Oliveira

Copenhagen Business School; Nova School of Business and Economics

Helena Canhão

University of Lisbon, School of Medicine

Date Written: October 12, 2014

Abstract

Services are thought of as something that involves a provider and a consumer. This is true for many situations in our daily life. For example, a taxi can provide a transportation service for a passenger. But it is also true that a passenger can drive himself/herself, i.e., self-provide a similar transportation service. Likewise, health-care professionals can provide health-care services to patients, but it is also true that a patient can help himself/herself having healthy habits, overcoming disabilities, i.e., self-providing services. This possibility is understood in the literature on services.

Since users can ‘serve themselves’ in many cases, it seems reasonable to consider that users can innovate with respect to the services they deliver to themselves. Despite this likely possibility and despite the economic importance of services, most research on sources of innovation has explored service development as a process assumed to be carried out by service providers.

This paper illustrates the relevance of the pioneering work on user innovation by von Hippel (e.g. von Hippel 1986, 1988, 1994, 2005) to the service innovation literature, by studying the sources of relevant service innovations across different fields, namely in health-care and financial services.

Suggested Citation

Oliveira, Pedro and Canhão, Helena, Users as Service Innovators: Evidence Across Healthcare and Financial Services (October 12, 2014). Oliveira, P. and H. Canhão (2014), “Users as Service Innovators: Evidence from Banking to Healthcare,” in K. Lakhani and D Harhoff (eds.), Revolutionizing Innovation, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2508959 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2508959

Pedro Oliveira (Contact Author)

Copenhagen Business School ( email )

Department of Strategy and Innovation (SI)
Kilen, Kilevej 14, K.2.71
Frederiksberg, DK - 2000
Denmark

Nova School of Business and Economics ( email )

Campus de Carcavelos
Rua da Holanda, 1
Carcavelos, 2775-405
Portugal

Helena Canhão

University of Lisbon, School of Medicine ( email )

R. Branca Edmée Marques
Dept. Plant Biology
Lisboa, 1600-276
Portugal

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