Product development for services

Abstract

Executive Overview This article applies management concepts for the development of products to the development and growth of services businesses. It tests product platform concepts against the experiences of a successful service enterprise and sets the stage for future research by positing approaches for market segmentation, service platform definition, and competency measurement. We propose new management research in the field of product development as a foundation for studying services. The central themes of our research are frameworks guiding the efficient development of new products based on robust product and process platforms targeting an array of related markets. Enabling these product and process platforms is the development or licensing of technical, production, marketing, and organizational competencies. We adapt these concepts to services businesses, and apply them to a worker's compensation insurer, based on several years of collaborative research with management of that firm. We find the integration of target markets, services platforms, and competencies a powerful approach for characterizing the development and success of the business. Breaking the business down into major elements or subsystems of core services has allowed management to design specific service strategies and deliverables in a manner that is both highly systematic and measurable.