Services, innovation, employment and organisation: research gaps and challenges for the next decade

Abstract

This paper provides a critical analysis of European service research. The paper reviews the state of service research in 1991 and critically evaluates the subsequent two decades of academic research. The paper then identifies key research challenges that must be addressed over the next decade. The key issues identified include: the development of new conceptual frameworks; the creation of new metaphors that might supplant the dominance of the networking metaphor; research that would explore the production of translocal distributed co-produced service expertise; further work on embodied expertise/labour; research on services and manufacturing; modifications to national statistics and a critical analysis of the relationship between knowledge and business, and professional services. © 2012 Taylor and Francis.