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Holistically reviews the literature, examines critically and summarises systematically the major pioneering works of contributors in this field. Its primary objective is to formulate a research agenda in the area of new service development (NSD) in the financial services sector.

A comprehensive in‐depth content analysis: theoretical discussion and conceptual frameworks of product innovation are carried out. This paper explores and evaluates extant frameworks of the tangible NPD process, which form the basis for NPD for the services literature. NSD has been central to the literature on services marketing, and a competitive weapon for firms, the important propensity has been related to the investigation of NSD issues.

This study identifies significant deficiencies and gaps (e.g. stakeholders involvement: roles of customers and supportive activities units) in the literature, with specific regard to new financial product development relating to the financial services sector.

This emerging approach to NPD suggests a new perspective on how to achieve NPD success in the financial services sector.

Managers and executives should strategically rethink the stakeholders’ roles, and the design and management of a NSD process. They should be aware of beneficial gains, which can be obtained from the process of stakeholder integration and involvement in NSD activities.

Provides a critical overview and analysis of theoretical perspectives on financial NSD /NPD with an annotated bibliographical reference covering the period between 1957 and 2005, which can help the advance of NSD research in the financial services sector. It also adds to the growing literature on the financial service innovation process.

Deregulation, advances in enabling technology, and aggressive competition from new suppliers, including banks, are causing more and more traditional insurance companies to revise the way in which product development is undertaken. A study of ten companies offering life insurance and ten companies offering general insurance in Britain shows that a few of them are now putting into place amended managerial systems. The marketing function is undergoing changes in responsibilities in all these companies. While most companies have key managers who have visions of how markets can be reshaped to give distinct competitive advantages, effecting such changes within existing operating constraints poses major challenges.

Those banks which are active and experienced product innovators use organisational systems significantly different and better suited to the task of developing new products than those of less active product innovator banks. The findings, based on interviews conducted in nine large commercial banks competing in the market for corporate banking services, show a key difference between the organisation arrangements of the two banking groups; active product innovators ensure that specialised personnel make regular, effective contact with the market while less active product innovators see development tasks as a special activity. Active product innovator banks have also progressed considerably in opening up traditionally tight operating structures in order to initiate product innovation.

Leaders in product innovation manage things differently from less successful follower firms. Research points to several facets of management where these differences are made clear.

This paper reports the results of a study into leadership of new service development projects in consumer banking. A sample of UK businesses embracing both new entrants and mature incumbent players was studied. The results highlight considerable similarity in the project “micro‐climate” for successful projects. It is argued that a micro‐climate is created by appropriate leadership practices and styles. The paper highlights lessons in the organisation of innovation and the contributions of different types of leaders.

New service development (NSD) is an imperative to suppliers in today's highly competitive banking markets. Communication during the NSD process is important if the needs of customers are to be met functionally as well as economically. The results presented in this paper identify communication skills associated with successful NSD. Case research into nine UK‐based commercial banks shows that the most successful developers use special skills for communicating with customers – especially with “lead customers” – throughout the development process. Less successful developers concentrate their communication exchange on the end of the process.

Investigates approaches to product launch and elimination decisions in samples of UK and US companies, which is a gap which was identified in the literature. Identifies different approaches to tackling each of the decisions, and different approaches within each sample. There are also differences between the countries. These results provide new insights, as well as support for some previous empirical results. Discusses directions for further research.

This paper reports on a study undertaken to explore the feasibility and usefulness of applying attitudinal data for the practical marketing purpose of increasing sales. Specifically the study sought reasons which led production engineers to prefer buying a specified make of machine tool from one supplier rather than another, its purpose being to recommend to British suppliers of a particular type of machine tool ways in which they might reposition their products to capture an increased share of their domestic market. The paper suggests how conventional methods of measuring attitudes in industrial markets can be supplemented by using the newer multi‐dimensional scaling techniques developed initially for use in modelling consumer behaviour.

Companies under threat can call upon three main types of innovation. First, market innovation – improving the mix of markets served. Second, product innovation – improving the mix of products offered. Third, process innovation – improving the mix and efficiency of internal operations. All types of innovation pose challenges, particularly to companies with little or no experience of managing change. Reports on efforts in five companies which needed to change to stay alive. Describes the types of innovation chosen by their CEOs and the means used to start the innovation process. Marketing considerations were found to be of decisive importance.

The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.