Driving Service Productivity: Value-Creation Through Innovation

In this review, Driving Service Productivity: Value-Creation Through Innovation is assessed as a thoughtful resource for managers and professionals grappling with how to make services more productive. The book presents a clear innovators perspective on a complex topic and is strongest as a strategic guide rather than a step-by-step manual. Readers who want rigorous thinking on designing the future of services will find useful case examples and research-backed insights that illuminate options for improving productivity across sectors.

Key Features

• Innovator's perspective: Frames service productivity as a landscape of design options, helping leaders see multiple routes to value creation rather than a single formula.
• Cross-industry case examples: Uses concrete cases from airports, hotels, healthcare and professional services to show how different contexts shape productive choices.
• Research-informed guidance: Combines academic results with practice-oriented discussion to provide evidence-based food for thought for strategy development.
• Practical focus on organizations: Targets leaders and members of diverse organisations, making the material relevant to both service businesses and service functions inside other firms.
• Design-oriented approach: Emphasizes tools and options for designing services, useful for teams working on new service concepts or transforming existing ones.

Who It's For

Driving Service Productivity is best suited to executives, service designers, consultants and academics who need a conceptual and evidence-based take on how to increase productivity in service settings. The book speaks to readers who appreciate case studies and a research lens, and who are looking for strategic frameworks rather than operational checklists.

Those seeking a quick how-to handbook, step-by-step implementation templates or lightweight summaries for frontline staff should look elsewhere; this volume is geared toward planners and decision-makers ready to engage with theory, examples and managerial implications.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Useful synthesis of research and practice that clarifies trade-offs when improving service productivity.
• Varied real-world cases make abstract ideas tangible for multiple industries.
• Design-oriented perspective empowers creativity in developing new service solutions.

Cons

• The book is more conceptual than prescriptive, so readers needing step-by-step operational tools may find it limited.

Specifications

Title	Driving Service Productivity: Value-Creation Through Innovation
Authors	John Bessant, Claudia Lehmann, Kathrin M. Moeslein
Audience	Leaders, managers, service professionals and academics
Focus	Service productivity, innovation and design of future services
Illustrative sectors	Airports, hotels, healthcare, professional services
Approach	Case examples combined with research findings

Our Verdict

Driving Service Productivity is a high-value read for decision-makers who need a structured, research-informed view of how to increase value in service settings. It excels at reframing productivity as a design challenge and offers practical examples that support strategic change, making it a worthwhile purchase for planners and scholars rather than practitioners seeking immediate operational checklists.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this book practical for frontline managers?
It is primarily strategic and conceptual; frontline managers may gain frameworks and examples but will not find detailed operational templates.

Which industries does the book cover?
The book includes case examples from airports, hotels, healthcare and professional services to illustrate cross-industry lessons.

Does it rely on academic research?
Yes, the text integrates research findings with business cases to provide evidence-based guidance on service productivity.