Runtriz - The Leader of mobile Hospitality

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 2,0, Karlstad University, course: Service Innovation, language: English, abstract: Table of contents

(I) List of figures and tables 1
(II) List of abbreviations 1

1. Introduction 2
1.1 Background and Purpose of the Topic 2
1.2 Methodology 2
2. Case Description 3
2.1 The History of Runtriz 3
2.2 Introduction of the Invention Hotel Evolution 3
3. Theory 5
3.1 Definition of Service Innovation 5
3.2 Service Innovation Models 5
3.2.1 Models from Gallouj and Weinstein 5
3.2.2 Models from Michel, Brown and Gallan 6
4. Case Analyses 7
4.1 Radical Innovation 7
4.2 Incremental Innovation 8
4.3 Changing the Customer Roles and Firm`s Value Creation 9
5. Conclusion 11

(III) List of references 12

The service industry, especially the hospitality industry, has to handle high pressure from competition and frequently changing demands from their customers (Victorino et al., 2005). Hotels have to establish a unique offering or service for their guests, to highlight themselves on the market. A way to generate a successful establishment within the hospitality industry is to implement and develop innovations, which can be seen as the creation of an extra value for the guest (Victorino et al., 2005). Findings from various articles and books like Service innovation and customer choices in the hospitality industry from Victorino et al. in 2005 and Open Services and Innovation from Henry Chesbrough in 2011, lining out that Service Innovations have an impact on the choice of customers and are a ¿clear and sustainable way to grow a business¿ (Chesbrough, 2011, p.13). Therefore, innovations have been coming into focus of importance also in the hospitality industry. (Victorino et al., 2005)
Runtriz, a company from the United States, has specialized itself in offering mobile solutions for luxury hotels. Their newest invention is called Hotel Evolution and was brought at the market in 2008. Hotel Evolution is a mobile touch screen platform, which allows guests to communicate and interact with the staff in the hotels (Enz et al., 2010). The question arising is what is the actual innovation of Hotel Evolution. Therefore, the overall aim is the analysis of the innovation, Hotel Evolution. Different theories and models will be used to apply the chosen case with scientific theory.