HEd-INNOSERV: perceived service innovation scale for the higher education sector

Purpose The study aims to emphasize the need for an exclusive theory, approach and measurement scale for service innovation. In the past three decades, the importance of services and service-related industry has grown tremendously. Well-established scales used for research in manufacturing cannot be directly adopted and measured in the service industry. This article follows the synthesis approach by including both technological and non-technological typologies for measuring service innovation. This is followed by reporting the effect of service innovation on outcome performances. The context of the study is the higher education sector. Design/methodology/approach An integrated research design was used to collect data from students in various parts of south India. In total, two focus group discussions and three in-depth interviews were conducted for item generation. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed for the reliability and validity of the scale. The study developed the HEd-INNOSERV scale consisting of seven dimensions comprising 34 items. Findings The study developed the HEd-INNOSERV scale consisting of seven dimensions comprising 34 items. The empirical results demonstrate that the scale is reliable, valid and generalizable across higher education institutions (HEIs). The scope for future research is to develop a generalized scale that can measure across the entire service sector. Research limitations/implications The scale shall help researchers in testing the conceptual models earlier developed in the service innovation domain. Similarly, HEIs could measure their stakeholders' perceptions of their innovation activity. Further, the result indicates that innovation enhances the reputation of the institution, which ultimately results in positive word of mouth. Practical implications Commercialization of the scale by developing an appropriate algorithm would help institutions in measuring their innovation-led initiatives continually and establish quality and standards. The scale can be used complementarily with other measures adopted from regulatory and rating agencies. Originality/value The HEd-INNOSERV scale shall help in optimizing the existing business processes of HEIs by helping them consciously introduce appropriate technological and non-technological innovations.