Understanding the Relationship between Services and Innovation

This essay reviews the European literature on innovation by drawing upon specially commissioned reports written by academics located in six countries. The innovation literature is classified into four types: technologist, service-orientated, integrative and theoretical. Each of these types is explored. One of the major findings is that different countries and researchers are at different stages of this life cycle approach to the literature. It is also suggested that the integrative approach is an exciting opportunity for developing the research agenda in this field.