The focus for innovation in small and medium service enterprises

This paper describes the findings of a project which examined small and medium Service enterprises (SMEs) in the areas which particularly needed innovative practices. Using a model of the service value chain and a self-assessment method of auditing the innovative practices of eleven companies, it was found that the greatest frequency of "critical" gaps in the service value chain occurred both in concept generation and service design, and less in service delivery. Further, the enabling processes of market focus, employee management and leadership were critically short of best practices in the majority of cases.