Comparing service, product, and process innovations: insights from the internal supply chain network of a European steel manufacturing firm

A case research approach is employed for investigating and comparing managerial perceptions of the three types of innovation (service, product, and process innovations) within the context of cross-functional network of a European steel manufacturing firm. The insights result in the development of a typology of innovation projects based on origin, context, scope, benefits, and degree of complexity. The findings, embedded in Resource Based View and Service Dominant Logic, reveal divergent aspects of the three types of innovation such as disparate reasons for undertaking each type of innovation and distinct internal and external success factors, as well as convergent aspects of the innovation types such as similar challenges. This research explores the three types of innovation in a single firm in a single study and provides a middle ground for the two extant schools of thought (one viewing product, service, and process innovations as entirely different processes and the other viewing all three as essentially same processes).