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One of the problems we face in the transition from an industrial society to a global knowledge economy is the need for a new breed of leaders and a new understanding of leadership. Creativity in organizations is traditionally considered to be the domain of the R&D department, and design and marketing functions. The consequences of this way of thinking are that creativity, innovation and the implementation of innovation have not been a part of everyday life throughout an organization, but rather things that are the responsibility of a few people often located in departments far away from the “front line.” It is the front line that is in daily contact with users/customers, and which, in the knowledge society, will become increasingly important. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how we can develop a new type of leadership in the knowledge economy. The authors suggest that the necessary conditions for this new type of leadership, which is refered to here as “innovation leadership”, are developed in a holistic model which includes the following elements: entrepreneurial action, innovative leadership, creative energy fields within the organization, high‐tech wealth creation and innovation as a business process.

The authors' perspective here is that of a holistic integrated model where leadership and administration coordinate and balance each other, promoting creativity, innovation, productivity and change. The methodology used is conceptual research, where an analytical model is discussed.

For the established policy in enterprises and other social systems it is important to open up to fields of contagion, cutting down parts of the forest and allowing the principle of the order of succession to reign freely. In established enterprises it is important to: uncover creative energy fields; identify innovation leaders; spread contagion by cutting down areas of the forest where you want the principle of the order of succession to apply; and ensure that you have active spreaders of contagious new creative energy fields in the enterprise.

If one freely interprets Hamel, then in order to promote the development of relational competence, 80 percent of the resources involved in high‐tech wealth creation should be allocated to innovation culture, and 20 percent to performance culture. Hamel says that innovation culture is constituted by “passion, creativity, initiative”. The most important aspect of innovation culture is not so much developing many new ideas and patents, but rather converting these ideas to profit for the company; the motto “from idea to invoice” springs to mind here. However, in most companies it is perhaps the performance culture rather than the innovation culture that is given priority.

The social implications can be stated by citing Hamel, who outlines five important lessons that need to be followed: go to the root of any problem; build what is new on new ground; commit to revolutionary goals, but reach the goals by taking small steps; evaluate continuously, but do not paralyse the system with analysis and quarterly results; and be persevering.

To the authors' knowledge, few authors (if any), have related systemic thinking (cybernetics) to the new leaders we need in the global economy.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest an interactive model of service brand development.

The design employed in the research represents a holistic and systemic approach to services branding and the methodology employed is conceptual desk research.

The research findings encompass an interactive model of service brand components grounded on a systemic perspective. By building on services brand theory, three key actors constitute the components of the model, namely service leadership, service employees and customers. The findings also state how successful service branding may be obtained at the level of the individual service enterprise.

The paper outlines a set of practical implications. For example, successful service brand development is obtained through a high degree of service orientation, customer involvement, an involvement model of service leadership and a motivated, committed and empowered workforce, particularly those employees at the frontline.

The originality and value of the research rests on using systemic thinking in the development of an interactive model of services brand development

The purpose of the paper is to examine the service branding process of the historic tourist attraction, the Norwegian Coastal Voyage (Hurtigruten).

A qualitative design guided the research and the research instrument employed was semi-structured in-depth interviews with service employees employed in the shipping line Hurtigruten ASA.

The research shows that the long history of the Hurtigruten, the role of leadership and culture, organising principles and analytical orientation were influential factors to the branding process on the Hurtigruten and that determined the key characteristics of the process, that of a structured process.

Although, the study is innovative in its orientation, the research findings are restricted to the research context: on the Hurtigruten. However, the inductive approach makes it possible to conduct follow-up studies including more cruise line carriers.

A set of advices is provided which is beneficial in making the Hurtigruten an even stronger brand. One advice is to develop brand messages to be used in market communication which is built on attractive values to tourists such as Norwegian sea man skills, safety, reliability, comfort and exoticness.

One important social implication is the suggestion to integrate the service employees in branding processes which may have consequences for employees’ brand commitment and loyalty.

In the research literature, more research on services branding is called for. Thus, the study contributes to the extant knowledge on an interesting research field and the value of the study lies in its in-depth exploration of an important management process, that of services branding.