Driving innovation through ambidextrous service provision—long life cycle products in manufacturing contexts

The aim of this paper is to explore the possibility that continuous improvement rather than radical innovation in the case of long life-cycle products can be consistent with both economic growth and the market drive towards sustainability in some circumstances. Sustainability within this context is defined in terms of extending the new product development (NPD) process to encapsulate cost and waste reduction by continuous incremental innovation and servicing of existing products. Ambidexterity is introduced as the enabler of sustainable service provision within this context. The paper discusses a conceptual framework for driving innovation through ambidextrous service provision and provides an illustrative case to support it. It contributes to the innovation and sustainability literature through acknowledging the importance of both exploration and exploitation within NPD processes, integrating this with sustainable service provision, and with particular reference to Product Service Systems (PSS).