Abstract
In recent years, service innovation has become an important driving force for industries’ structural changes, and business transformation. Service innovation is an action that organizations respond to customer demands by value-added products and services. In addition, rural tourism is a new rural service innovation in Taiwan these years. It combines three elements of local recourses; rural culture and customer participation to create developing opportunities for traditional rural regions. However, very few researches have been conducted on applying service design and innovation methods to Taiwan local communities and rural villages. So this study conducts a case study of a service innovation platform named "BigHillNorthMoon" located in Hengshan Township, Hsinchu County as the research target. We analyzed the service innovation activities held over the past years. BigHillNorthMoon, originally was an elementary school campus since 1923. It was closed in 1983 due to the significant decrease of student population when Taiwan moved to industrial economy. After remodeled in 2006, now is a new form of cultural and creative park, where two young entrepreneurs realized their dreams. They keep working on social innovation, sustainable agriculture, venue activation, resources integration and development of Hakka culture living area by continuing the initial efforts of Service Science Society of Taiwan. They expect themselves as “the curator of Hsinchu Tai3route”. This study, using service system as main research point of view, and the Actor Network Theory as the analytical framework, describes five representative service innovation activities held in BigHillNorthMoon. They are Remodel Workshop, Mountain Cuisine, Local Journey, Grassland Wedding and Oranges Basket. In these cases, we analyzed the structures and processes different actors connected with each other to achieve corresponding objectives. We identify that successful service innovation activities closely relate to the links between stakeholders. These practical evidences support the key principles of service science; that is, resource integration and value co-creation, The research results not only provide support to similar entrepreneurs to innovate services, but also reinforce the applications of service design and innovation methods to co-create value for stakeholders. Through BigHillNorthMoon cases, moreover, we learn how to create effective governance mechanisms that cooperate stakeholders and create value of service innovation.