I generally don’t post PR puff pieces on my blogs, but this announced research joint venture between Babson College and Venkat Ramaswamy’s consulting firm sounds important for service innovation.
Next Practices in Value Creation aims to “demonstrate how organizations can co-create innovation…
The research will investigate how organizations are co-creating value with customers through compelling experiences… interaction with customers is the new locus of value creation, and… co-creation is the new competency for firms… core competences are no longer located in the value chain of the company, but at the point of interaction between the customer and the firm.”
To see the full release:
ProfessorGary on Innovation and Marketing 
The co-creation of value is non-linear. Believe
that is the starting point—-nothing ever
happens in a straight line.