Proactive & Reactive Customer Integration during New Service Development Process : A Qualitative Case Study of the Service Industry (TSP’s) in the Småland Region of Sweden 

Sammanfattning: Title Proactive and Reactive Customer Integration during New Service Development Process: A qualitative case study of the service industry (TSP’s) in the Småland Region of Sweden. Author Mbachu, Chijioke Innocent Tutor Soniya Billore PhD. Examiner Rana Mostaghel PhD. Course Marketing Bachelor Programme Final Thesis, 30ECTS, Spring Semester 2013, School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University, Sweden. Keywords New Service Development (NSD), New Product Development (NPD), Tangible Service Provider (TSP), Product-Based Service (PBS), Innovation, Integration, Interaction, Proactive, Reactive, Småland (located in the southern region of Sweden). Purpose This research is aimed to examine the proactive and reactive activities that service firms undertake to integrate customers during process of NSD. Method ' Qualitative Research Technique ' Deductive and Descriptive Study ' Multiple Case Sampling ' Semi-Structure In-depth Interviews ' Cases (Four International product-based service companies) located in the Småland region of Sweden. Findings ' Successful proactive orientation through the means of vigorous communications and feedbacks exchanges with key customers during NSD enables positive thinking and empowers companies to integrate customers’ thoughts during early stages of service development. ' Not only by a company demonstrating a reactive orientation in identifying customers’ needs leads to new service ideas, but more significantly is that the approach of company reactiveness to customers can also lead to proactiveness. ' Longitudinal studies such as monitoring the market effect of services in existence, feedback methods, documentation in the form of taking customers statistics, the use of the company’s marketers were the key tools that companies use in identifying when to act proactively or reactively towards fulfilling customers’ needs and integrating customers in various stages. ' A successful customer orientation of a company can be achieved by doing things not exactly as expressed by customers, but by doing things differently bearing in mind what customers stated and also coming up with new services that offers greater expansions which surpasses current customers’ expectations. ' Integrating customers’ thoughts in implementation process helps both the company-customers see similar things and support the possibility of moving towards the same direction.