Strategyn Thought Leader Pens New Book on Service Innovation
2010-07-14
Raleigh, NC – July 14, 2010 – Strategyn, Inc., an industry leader in innovation management, today announced the launch of a new book on service innovation written by one of its employees.
Lance Bettencourt, PhD, a Strategyn senior consultant, thought leader, and former marketing professor, is the author of Service Innovation: From Customer Needs to Breakthrough Services. Published by McGraw-Hill, Dr. Bettencourt uses his 20-plus years experience in the consulting and teaching professions to write a practical guide to approaching service innovation.
In the book, Dr. Bettencourt explains that customers “hire” services to get a job done, just as they do products. By understanding that job, an organization can approach service innovation in a way that meets their customers’ needs. Too often, he says, innovators look only at the current service when seeking service innovations – an approach that he finds ineffective. He uses innovation success stories from such companies as Microsoft, Ingersoll-Rand and Kroll to demonstrate his point.
“Lance has worked closely with many of our top clients to help them bring value to their customers,” said Strategyn CEO Tony Ulwick. ”His book is the first of its kind to focus on service innovation – a topic that often leaves business executives baffled. He clearly demonstrates how companies can be successful in the service innovation field. We think it’s a must-read.”
Leonard Berry, co-author of Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic, says of Dr. Bettencourt’s book: “(He) deftly blends his academic and consulting experience to provide an example-rich, readable, practical, and innovative discussion of service innovation.” Another author, Mary Jo Bitner, PhD, W.P Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and the co-author of Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, writes: “The tools and guidance in this book will inspire companies, small and large, to create effective and innovative services that are desperately needed.”
In a review on Amazon.com, blogger Jim Estill notes that Dr. Bettencourt’s book addresses service innovation from the customer perspective and also offers a chapter on differentiation, which Estill feels is key to innovation success. He writes: “This is a must read for anyone in the services business and, for that matter, we are all in the services business.”
About the Author
Lance Bettencourt, PhD, of Bloomington, IN, brings a combination of academic rigor and practical insight to the innovation process. A former professor of marketing at Indiana University, he is an expert in product and service innovation, marketing strategy, and research design and analysis.
Dr. Bettencourt has published dozens of articles on marketing strategy and innovation in both academic and practitioner publications. Recent contributions include: “The Customer-Centered innovation Map” (Harvard Business Review, May 2008), “Giving Customers a Fair Hearing” (Sloan Management Review, Spring 2008), and “Client Co-Production in Knowledge Intensive Business Services” (California Management Review, Summer 2002).
A senior consultant at Strategyn, Dr. Bettencourt has supported innovation initiatives at some of the world’s leading companies including Microsoft Corporation, Colgate-Palmolive, Hewlett-Packard, Kimberly-Clark, Chiquita Brands and Ethicon Endo-Surgery (which won an Edison Award for the product it created working with Strategyn). He is presenting a free webinar on service innovation with the American Marketing Association on July 20, and teaching a class on service innovation this August through the Strategyn Institute, where he is a leading instructor.
About Strategyn
Strategyn is a leader in innovation management with a 20-year history of partnering with companies across the globe to solve unique innovation challenges. Through the company’s patented Outcome-Driven Innovation® (ODI) process, companies can discover high-growth emerging markets, unlock hidden opportunities, and create breakthrough products and services. Strategyn’s 40 employees worldwide have worked successfully with companies such as Chiquita Brands, Colgate-Palmolive, Hallmark, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, Microsoft Corporation, Motorola , Pfizer and WellPoint, helping them establish effective innovation strategies. Strategyn, Inc. serves as a holding company for Strategyn Consulting, Strategyn Institute, Strategyn Ventures, and the Strategyn Center for Social Innovation – all innovation-advancing businesses.
