3.2 Research Method
The ASSTD project offers case reports for each
project; therefore, the authors used these data as the
key source for analysis. Content analysis was the
main research method. The profiles of the SMEs,
characteristics of the executed projects, patterns of
service innovation, types of IT, role of IT, and
outcomes of these projects were coded.
3.3 Sample Selection
Two opposing viewpoints have been expressed
regarding the selection of research targets: 1)
Innovation may differ between the service and
manufacturing industries and within the service
industry; therefore, considering specific types of
service is crucial [19]; and 2) recent studies (e.g.,
Thakur and Hale [25]) have observed similar
managerial perceptions of service innovation success
and impeding factors amongst countries and service
sectors.
The second viewpoint was adopted in this
study, and SMEs from the tourism and food service
industries were used as the research target. Such firms
are representative and suitable for a study on service
innovation for the following reasons.
First, investigating the tourism industry
(including industries contributing to tourism services)
was suitable because this industry plays a major role
in the world economy and in Taiwan. In addition, in
the current globally competitive tourism industry,
companies cannot maintain competitiveness without
implementing service innovation. Moreover, the role
of entrepreneurship, technology push, and the
existence of territorial industry clusters are
considered determinants of innovation in the tourism
sector [13]. Finally, as stated by Martinez-Ros and
Orfila-Sintes [19] and Hialager [13], limited
systematic and comparable empirical studies have
explored the activities and effects of service
innovation in the tourist industry. Gaining a deeper
understanding of the innovative activities involved in
the tourism industry enable business owners to
determine actions that can improve competitiveness
and positively influence the economy by contributing
to the overall competitiveness of the tourism
destination.
As shown in Table 1, based on the
aforementioned case selection logic, 103 firms
belonging to the tourism and food service industries,
which account for 8% of all ASSTD-assisted firms,
were included in the data analysis.