Untitled - Ministerstwo Rozwoju Regionalnego

services. New types of services may originate only as an effect of implemented
changes. Marketing and organizational innovations are of much greater importance
for the service sector. Unfortunately, most of the research related to technology
and innovation is focused on the manufacturing industries, although
greater attention has recently been paid to technological innovations in service
sectors, too 3 .
An important factor influencing the innovativeness of logistic services is the
company’s ability to create, acquire and manage knowledge. This translates into
the structure of innovation sources, mainly external partners where the high importance
of contacts with customers is strongly emphasised. And the personnel
of a logistic enterprise are a key element of the resources of knowledge involved
in the process of searching, creating and implementing innovation.
The purpose of innovation in the logistic services industry is most of all to
improve the quality of services, diversify the offer, adapt its scope to specific
needs and try to lower the clients’ logistics costs. The effects of innovations implemented
by logistic enterprises are less “visible” because they are intangible
and difficult to measure. Then, the lack of objective criteria to assess the innovativeness
of those services is the reason why it is difficult to convince the customer
that a given service is innovative and that it is worth paying a premium
price for it. Unfortunately, the intangible nature of services is also the reason
why non-technological innovations may be relatively easily imitated by competitors.
Enterprises implementing such innovations must take into account the
fact that their ideas may quickly be duplicated and become widespread, thus
ceasing to be innovative any longer. This is likely to happen also because innovations
of this type are rarely protected by the law (e.g. in the form of patents) 4 .
Many classifications based on the specifics of the conducted operations are
to be found in literature, mainly in foreign publications. Logistic innovations refer
to all changes in logistics and services provided in the supply chain, which
may range from basic and gradual, to comprehensive, complex and highly
transformed ones. The most often used classification distinguishes between
technological (product and process) and non-technological (organizational and
marketing) innovations 5 . Sometimes in a reduced version, technological, organisational
and market innovations are mentioned 6 . The classification is particularly
important in such service sector as TL, where technological and, especially,
ICT innovations have contributed to the fast growth of the sector over the last
3 Chieh-Yu Lin, Factors affecting innovation in logistics technologies for logistics service providers in
China. “Journal of Technology Management in China” 2007 Volume 2 Number 1.
4 A. KoŸlak, Specyfika i poziom innowacyjnoœci w sferze us³ug (in:) Us³ugi w Polsce – nauka, dydaktyka
i praktyka wobec wyzwañ przysz³oœci. Vol. I. Edited by A. Panasiuk and K. Rogoziñski. Wydawnictwo
Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczeciñskiego, Szczecin 2008, pp. 316-317.
5 Towards a European strategy in support of innovation in services: Challenges and key issues for future actions.
Commission staff working document. SEC(2007) 1059, p. 7.
6 R. Chapman, C. Soosay, J. Kandampully …, op. cit.
121