Innovation in Practice: A Practice-Theoretical Framework for Interpreting Service Innovation Endeavours

The purpose of this study is to contribute to our understanding of technology-based service innovations. The overarching research question has been: How can we understand service innovation from a practice-theoretical perspective, and in particular, how d oes customer practices induce knowledge for technological design purposes and increase our understanding of adoption processes? It might be argued that effective service innovation requires the integration of firm capabilities with customer needs (Doughe rty 2004). Accordingly, the present study draws from practice theory as interpreted by (Schatzki 2001) and (Reckwitz 2002) to study value creation potential and technological adoption. In doing so, it is asserted that social practices may increase our und erstanding of why and how new technologies are integrated and improve or create new social structures. Hence, my ambition for doing this research is to understand, discuss and contribute to the literature of innovation by focusing on opportunity recogni tion and adoption from a sociological perspective. Empirically, I am using data from service innovation projects both from educational and health care contexts to study the interaction between practices and new technology. The proposed framework portrays the interaction between use and development as a reciprocal cyclical relationship as they stimulate each other and co-evolve over time. This approach may solve a number of problems facing researchers working in new service development studies. The main deliverables during this mobility project relate to completing one PhD course, complete two articles and build relevant networks. Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley has world-class competence in regards to my research area pertaining to service innova tion and innovation management. As such, staying at UC Berkeley may bring forward valuable insight for my research work and strengthen existing networks for my home institution.