Challenges of New Service Development: Case Video-Supported Home Care Service

In all developed economies, there is a mounting demand for effective solutions to elderly care stemming from an aging population and the high cost of resources needed. Hence, significant investments have been made in developed countries to stimulate the growth of information and communication technology-enhanced services for the home care markets. However, digital provisioning of home care services includes major challenges. This study uses an individual longitudinal case study that explores the collaborative development of a video-based elderly care service to deepen the understanding of these challenges. The findings emphasize the importance of analyzing the contextual value for a variety of relevant stakeholders and identifying the key persons who are personally committed to the long-term collaborative development. The observed challenges also call for actions by policy makers to increase the dynamicity of service development in long-term research and development projects. Our theoretical contribution suggests integrating new service development theories with service-dominant logic and systems theories. This integration provides a means to contextualize the value of the service for individual beneficiaries, and it also contributes to coping with the complexity of new service development. For business practitioners, we translate these insights into propositions about new service development in the context of health and social care service systems.