Explaining innovation in tourism-retailing contexts by applying Simon’s Sciences of the Artificial

Purpose – This study aims to use Simon’s theory of strategies to explain Ever Rich’s strategies for introducing innovation. Ever Rich is a very successful duty-free shop in Taiwan that makes profits by improving airport lobby/terminals and enhancing Taiwan’s tourism brand image. This study shows a design artifact to explain Ever Rich’s strategies for introducing innovation. The design artifact is based on Herbert Simon’s classical work of Sciences of the Artificial . The design artifact is also grounded in the theories of customer service life cycle, input-process-output model of strategic entrepreneurship and docility-based distributed cognition. Design/methodology/approach – The authors interviewed the executive management with the pre-determined 14 questions regarding resource inputs, processes of resource orchestration and outputs. Findings – Introducing innovation requires appropriate strategies. Based on Herbert Simon’s research on “Science of the Artificial”, this case shows a design artifact of strategies for introducing innovation. The design artifact is in line with Ever Rich’s corporate philosophy, including training and education of duty-free professionals, customer-oriented services, guarantee stringent quality control of products, newness and innovation and contributions to community. The design artifact, therefore, serves as a source of discovery with benefits for knowledge-building and relationship-building that are useful for students and practitioners. Practical implications – The success of this case and the reasons of success can be an inspiration for others. Originality/value – A significant contribution of the paper is that the design artifact serves as a source of discovery with benefits for knowledge-building and relationship-building that are useful both for students and practitioners.