Industrial service innovation growth and barriers

Industrial Business-to-Business (B2B) services are becoming increasingly important for industrial growth and competition. As the markets are becoming more competitive and globalised, companies need to focus on improving existing services and creating new services. Innovation in services is a complex process and many barriers are encountered for companies that do not have experience in service innovation. Based on a study in the Norwegian oil and gas industry, this paper maps recent industrial B2B service growth and innovations. A number of innovation barriers are identified and discussed. Furthermore, the paper draws attention to the need for development in industrial service sourcing strategies, relationships, as well as contractual and performance issues.