Organizational service innovation: The case of the Rensselaer Satellite Video Program at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Abstract

The objective of this study is to develop a model for organizational service innovation success by exploring in detail the reasons behind the success of an organizational service innovation. Since prior researchers on organizational innovation have approached the issue from the purpose of adoption, change, and incremental new service development, it is difficult to extend their conclusions for organizational service innovations because of the contextual differences in these three lines of research. The unique attribute of this study is that it considers a new-to-the-world innovation. The Rensselaer Satellite Video Program (RSVP) of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is a distance education program for working professionals. It was set up as a transparent organization within RPI to handle all of the needs and wishes of distance students and corporate customers. The study combines multiple data collection methods such as interviews and archival sources because multiple data collection techniques make the triangulation possible to provide strong conclusions. Designed and tested before the interviews, a case study protocol with open-ended questions was used during interviews. The results of the study indicate that there are four major dimensions for the success of organizational service innovations Each dimension is explained and theoretical and practical implications as well as future research directions are discussed.