Project team communication in financial service innovation

We examine the role of communication during the innovation process of new f inancial services from an information processing perspective. A contingency framework is developed on the role of communication and its impact on new financial services success. In order to assess the unique nature of the ser vices context of this study, this framework also depicts the moderating imp act of the specific services characteristics (intangibility, inseparability , heterogeneity and perishability) on project communication during the inno vation process. Project team communication is conceptualized by three types of communication: (1) intra-project communication, (2) extra-project commu nication involving (i) organizational liaisons, which refer to the transfer of intra-organizational communication by project members and (ii) gatekeep ers of information, which refer to the transfer of extra-organizational inf ormation by customer-contact personnel. The relationship between project te am communication and the reduction of innovative uncertainty on new financi al service success is examined. Our contingency model implies that managers have to recognize the critical communication roles that project members an d frontline employees may fulfill. The communication flows mediated by thes e individuals foster the uncertainty reduction during the innovation proces s. Moreover, financial service innovation management should conceive the se rvice characteristics as sources of task uncertainty, as they may lower pro ject communication effectiveness, i.e. the reduction of innovative uncertai nty. Following the managerial implications of our model, we finally formula te directions for future research.