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The purpose of this paper is, firstly, to review existing schools of thought and to identify present research fields in new service development (NSD) and service innovation research, and, secondly, to discuss future research opportunities.

The literature review is based on a search for “service innovation” and “NSD” in titles, abstracts and keywords of articles. As a result of looking at the references, as well as through analysis of papers which cite the articles identified, additional publications are included in this study.

Four schools of thought and five distinct research fields are presented. Herein, the authors show that there is a lack of studies of organisational innovations, and that differences in the drivers for radical or incremental innovations may be of degree rather than of kind. Further, contradictory results in the research field on differences versus similarities of new product and NSD are identified. In addition, the authors propose possible pathways for future research for each research field and school of thought.

The scope of publications included in this review may be subject to criticism as book‐publications may be under‐represented in this review. Also, the keywords used for the initial search could include additional words.

The paper groups previously scattered research activities from various backgrounds such as marketing and operations into distinct research fields, and presents both the status quo and a discussion of possible directions for future research.

Literature refers to the key factors of total quality management (TQM) based on studies carried out in individual countries. However, few studies focus on studying the TQM factors in service companies based on multinational data. The purpose of this paper is to empirically identify the key TQM factors and their impact on internal and external customer performance measures across different countries.

The research questions regarding the TQM factors and their effects were examined using a sample of service organisations from three countries (131 from Greece, 70 from Mexico and 151 from Spain). TQM factors and their impact on employee and customer satisfaction were analysed separately for each country. Exploratory factor analyses, coupled with multiple linear regression analyses, were conducted.

The key TQM factors identified are common among the three participating countries and can be summarised as follows: quality practices of top management, process management, employee quality management, customer focus, and employee knowledge and education. The adoption level of these five key factors of TQM varies across service organisations in different countries. The results also confirmed that some of the TQM elements are antecedents of customer- and employee-focused performance.

Multinational service organisations may use such an instrument to evaluate TQM implementation among worldwide operations and then benchmark their performance. In addition, an understanding of similarities and differences among countries would help managers around the world to address difficulties of TQM implementation related to the country culture.

Previous studies have compared key TQM factors across different countries in manufacturing, but overall, there has been a little attempt in the literature to analyse the adoption of TQM factors among service firms, as well the relationships between quality improvement and performance across different geographical regions.

This study empirically analyzes the direct impacts of soft quality management practices (SQMP) and market orientation ambidexterity (MOA) on product innovation ambidexterity (PIA). It also examines the mediating role of MOA in the relationship between SQMP and PIA.

Following a quantitative research methodology, a well-structured questionnaire is used to collect data from 130 Moroccan certified ISO 9001 firms. The conceptual framework of the study was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The results show that SQMP have no significant association with PIA while they positively and significantly impact MOA. The study also revealed that MOA has a positive and significant impact on PIA and fully mediates the relationship between SQMP and PIA.

Due to the conceptualization of MOA and PIA as combined ambidexterity, the results of the study might be different in the case of balanced ambidexterity.

To achieve PIA, managers need to be aware that implementing SQMP, while important, is not enough. They must invest sufficient resources to properly implement these practices to support MOA. Consequently, MOA will lead their organization to PIA by establishing the significant impact of SQMP on PIA.

Regardless of the abundant literature on the relationship between quality management (QM) practices and innovation, this study is among the first to examine the impact of SQMP on PIA. Using MOA as a mediator can give a meaningful answer to the indecisive empirical results of the impact of QM on innovation. Furthermore, this research contributes to the scarce literature on relevant studies conducted in developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to fill a gap in the existing literature that relates leadership style to total quality management (TQM) focus. Specifically, the study evaluates whether and how leadership style may affect the implementation of TQM practices.

A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from employees of different organizations operating in the manufacturing (n = 156) and service sectors (n = 147). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses as well as structural equation modeling were adopted to test the hypothesized research model.

The results revealed that transformational leadership has a positive impact in the implementation of TQM practices (e.g., customer focus, process management, human resource management, strategic planning and learning). It was also found that, regardless of industry type, manufacturing or service, transformational leadership has a significantly positive influence on TQM practices. In addition, it was noted that manufacturing companies showed a higher level of TQM practices than did service companies.

This study represents, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the first empirical examination of the relationship between transformational leadership and TQM in the service and manufacturing industries, with the goal of determining the differences between these two sectors. The study's conclusions may be useful for service and manufacturing organizations in achieving more effective leadership in the implementation of TQM.

Total quality management is a valuable approach to continuously improve the quality of organizations; however, scholars debate its applicability to services, which require specific best practices that are different from those related to manufacturing. Moreover, digitization is pervading all kinds of services, but little has been written about total quality service practices in digital-based companies. For this purpose, the authors provide a holistic model of total quality service that reflects the peculiarities of such companies, guided by the question: how do total quality service practices change in digital-based service organizations?

The authors conduct an illustrative case study on Healthware Group, a global integrated digital health organization, to evaluate theoretical assumptions about total quality service practices in the digital environment.

The findings allow to validate the model provided. In addition, the study enables them to observe the changes the authors are witnessing in service provision in the digital era and the consequent transformation of best practices. To be accurate, the authors cannot refer to a full transformation in digital-based companies but rather to the enrichment and extension of TQS practices. The best illustration of these conclusions has been summarized in a set of propositions corresponding to seven of the key levers of a TQS model.

The paper represents the first attempt to discuss the relationship between total quality service and digitalization, offering a set of propositions for academics and insights for practitioners. The model can be used as a tool to visualize the different levers that successful implementation of TQS in digital-based services companies can rely on.

The purpose of this study is to see the effect of market orientation (MO) on business performance with two intervening variables, namely, service innovation and total quality management (TQM) with Muslim fashion micro, small, and medium enterprises as the object of research.

This study uses a quantitative approach with structural equation modelling-partial least square analysis techniques. Date were collected using an online questionnaire that got 100 respondents. The respondents of this research are the owner, manager, human resource development, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of a business that is engaged in Muslim fashion.

This study found that MO has an effect on business performance either directly or through mediating variables, namely, service innovation and TQM.

This study only focuses on the Muslim fashion business and does not pay attention to businesses operating in other sectors.

The results of the study highlight the need for Muslim fashion business owners/managers to pay more attention to customer feedback. This is by adopting modern ways of communicating, providing training for employees and starting to join the Muslim fashion business community. These things need to be highlighted because in the items measured, they get the smallest mean among other items that are in the same variable.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to find out the effect of MO on business performance using mediating variables, namely, service innovation and TQM.

Over the last few decades, some researchers have analysed the role of total quality management (TQM) as a precursor of innovation. However, the relationship between TQM and organisational innovation remains unclear and contradictory. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework intended to clarify the complex effect that the implementation of a TQM system has on organisational innovation, where market orientation (MO) and knowledge management (KM) play a mediator role.

Data in this study come from a survey of 706 Spanish CEOs. The results were analysed employing structural equation modelling to determine how TQM, MO and KM influence innovation.

The results of the empirical study show that there is a curvilinear effect between TQM and organisational innovation. Both MO and KM perspectives play a mediator role between TQM and innovation.

Managers should be aware that management based on TQM help organisations not only to get higher quality but also to be market oriented and better manage their knowledge; what will help them to develop innovations.

This research sheds light on the question of the relationship between TQM and organisational innovation that has received mixed conclusions in the literature. There is evidence in this research that the relationship between TQM and innovation responds to a curvilinear relationship, where high levels of TQM favour a more than proportionate effect on the development of innovation. It also clarifies the mechanisms by which this effect is produced, with MO and KM as mediator variables.