On the prospective value of ICTs to new service conception

To stay competitive over time, many service providers develop new services continuously through a process comprised of three primary stages: strategic planning, in which a new service objective is articulated; new service conception (i.e., new service development's 'front end'); and service system design, development and testing (i.e., its 'back end'). Of these stages, new service conception has received the least attention from new service development (NSD) and information systems (IS) researchers, particularly with respect to the computer-mediated tools that are used to support it. After reviewing the NSD literature, this paper draws from two reference domains (new product development (NPD) and computerized creativity support (CCS) studies) to demonstrate the prospective value of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to the new service conception process. The paper concludes by introducing a sensitizing model that can be used in an exploratory, foundational study of ICT use in the new service conception process.